Denise Akob

Graduate Student

Chemical Oceanography
Major Professor: Dr. Joel Kostka

Department of Oceanography
Rm 535, OSB
Florida State University
Tallahassee, Florida 32306-4320

Research

Currently, I am involved in a variety of microbial ecology studies in Dr. Kostka's lab. My primary research is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and is focused on the bioremediation of a uranium-contaminated site in Oak Ridge, TN. I study the biostimulation of iron reducing microorganisms using cultivation independent techniques in which I clone and sequence the 16S rRNA gene of microbes. These techniques allow me to characterize and identify the diverse microbial communities in the sediment. I am also working to develop cultivation-independent techniques for the quantification of sediment microbes.

Visit my research website.

Curriculum Vitae (PDF Document)

Akob, D. M., H. J. Mills, T. M. Gihring, L. Kerkhof, J. W. Stucki, A. S. Anastacio, K.-J. Chin, K. Kusel, A. V. Palumbo, D. B. Watson, and J. E. Kostka. 2008. Functional Diversity and Electron Donor Dependence of Microbial Populations Capable of U(VI) Reduction in Radionuclide-Contaminated Subsurface Sediments. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 74:3159-3170.(PDF Document)

Akob, D.M., H.J. Mills, and J.E. Kostka, 2007. Metabolically active microbial communities in uranium contaminated subsurface sediments. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 59, 95-107. (PDF Document)