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.

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)