ARC DECRA Fellow: Dr Rachael Lappan

Rachael has come from the human microbiology field, completing her PhD in 2019 at the University of Western Australia on the microbiome of childhood ear infections. Excited to explore the universe of environmental microbiology, she joined the Greening lab in the same year to work on the RISE: Revitalising Informal Settlements and their Environments program. She is also involved in several other projects, exploring the metagenomes of various terrestrial, marine, and host-associated environments with bioinformatics. In 2022, she was awarded an ARC DECRA Fellowship to lead a group to understand the structure, function, and significance of the atmospheric microbiome. When not at work she enjoys hosting board game nights, running Dungeons & Dragons games and looking at photos of other people’s dogs.

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PhD Student: Caitlin Welsh

Caitlin recently completed her Bachelor of Science at Monash University majoring in Microbiology and Zoology, with a keen interest in bacteria. She joined the Greening lab for an Honours project in 2019 focusing on characterisation of novel lineages of hydrogen-scavenging bacteria. After a bioinformatics-focused research assistant position, she has recently embarked on a PhD focused on hydrogen metabolism in the human gastrointestinal tract. When not at university Cait enjoys travelling as much as possible, spending time in the garden, birdwatching and looking after her many fish.

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PhD Student: Thilini Koralegedara

Thilini completed her Honours at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka, and recently gained her masters in Biotechnology as the highest achieving graduate from Swinburne University of Technology. She focused on cloning lipase genes from thermophilic bacteria and analysing the compost fungal microbiome as parts of her research. She joins the Greening lab as a PhD student to uncover the effects of carbon monoxide on Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Thilini likes to explore different parts of the world, experiment with arts and crafts, and de-stress by watching variety shows and cat videos on YouTube.

PhD Student: Charles Nunez

Charles completed his Honours project with Dr Francesca Short on the persistence mechanisms of nosocomial pathogens, resulting in a first-author . He has returned to complete a PhD between the Short and Greening labs on environmental persistence of pathogens. Outside work, as can be expected from his fieldwork gear, he was recently spotted in the front row of Taylor Swift’s latest concert!

Honours Student: Addam Corallo

Addam recently completed his Bachelor of Science at Monash University, majoring in Immunology and Microbiology. He chose these fields as he finds the battle between microbial pathogens and our immune system fascinating, and enjoys learning and discovering the interplay between the two fields. During his Honours project, he will study how cigarette smoke influences Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. Outside of his studies, he often enjoys walking his dog, playing online games with friends, and musical theatre.

Postdoc: Dr Francesco Ricci

Francesco completed his PhD at the University of Melbourne where he studied population structure and ecophysiology of microbes living in symbiosis with tropical Scleractinian corals. Following his PhD, Francesco developed an interest in understanding how life adapts to extreme environments such as the deep sea and hypersaline lakes. He joined the Greening Lab in 2023, where he will investigate the symbiosis between microbes and deep sea corals and microbial metabolisms in aquatic caves. In his free time, he enjoys the outdoors, underwater diving, rock climbing, camping, cooking and time with family and friends.

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PhD Student: Ning Hall

Ning is investigating microbial greenhouse gas production in permeable marine sediments with the Cook and Greening labs. She enjoys the challenge of working in an interdisciplinary team bridging gaps between biogeochemistry and microbiology. She completed first-class Honours in Chemistry at Monash, studying volatile fatty acid production by marine bacteria. Before turning to science, Ning studied Javanese dance in Indonesia and continues to enjoy teaching and performing in Melbourne.

PhD Student: Maha Alharbi

Maha’s PhD, hosted by the Cook and Greening labs, is examining the coupling of iron oxidation to nitrate reduction. She completed her Master’s degree at Taibah University, Saudi Arabia, focusing on isolating exopolysaccharide-producing Azotobacter strains. Maha subsequently completed a medical internship and worked as a teaching assistant in Taibah University and King Abdulaziz University. In her free time, she enjoys relaxing, cooking, and spending time with my family.

Honours Student: Montgomery Hall

Monte has just completed a Bachelor of Science Advanced – Research at Monash University, where he majored in Microbiology and Ecology. After completing a number of undergraduate projects at the Greening lab, he confirmed his passion for research and the field of microbial ecology. Monte is continuing in the lab as an Honours student, where he will investigate the effects of fire on soil and bark microbial communities and the biogeochemical processes they mediate. In his free time, Monte enjoys bushwalks, learning about botany, and reading old books while cuddled up with his cat.

Research Officer: James Lingford

James completed a Bachelor of Science in Genetics (Hons) at the University of Western Australia. Following this he became a research assistant at the Harry Perkins Institute studying RNA binding proteins, and then later moved to Melbourne to be a research assistant at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, where he investigated the structure and function of mucosal proteins. James is now a research officer in the Greening lab where he’s keen to apply his dual genetics and protein biochemistry skills to investigate the weird and wonderful world of gas consuming microbial proteins. James’s personal scientific hero and all-around role model is Richard Lewontin. In his spare time you can find James reading a book while cuddling his two dogs, or discussing a terrible movie with his wife.

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PhD Student: Ashleigh Kropp

Ash completed her undergraduate, Honours, and Masters of Philosophy degrees at the University of Melbourne/WEHI, writing her thesis on the structural and functional role of specific human kinases that are involved in numerous cancers. In late 2019, Ash joined the Greening lab as a research assistant and achieved the first purification of a high-affinity hydrogenase. Now a PhD student with the Grinter and Greening labs, she primarily works on the biochemistry of hydrogenases in Mycobacterium smegmatis, specifically investigating their structure and their transcriptional regulation. Outside of work, Ash loves yoga and pilates, trashy reality TV, and being with her friends.

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Research Officer: Tess Hutchinson

Tess is a research officer investigating how climate change impacts primary production and microbial biodiversity in Antarctica. In 2018, she completed first-class Honours on a similar topic. Tess enjoys the field work that comes with her project, having visited beaches across Australia and Denmark in the name of research. In 2023, she completely her PhD investigating pathways of organic carbon degradation in permeable marine sediments (sand). In her spare time, Tess enjoys reading, travelling and eating delicious things.

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Visiting Postdoc: Dr Oliver Schmidt

Oliver is a Postdoc at UiT The Arctic University of Norway and was awarded a one-year fellowship by the Research Council of Norway to join the Greening Lab in late 2023 and continue his studies on the physiology of the atmospheric trace gas oxidizer Methylocapsa gorgona. Before Oliver moved north to Tromsø in 2021, he investigated anaerobic degradation processes in peatlands and the gut of earthworms at the University of Bayreuth, Germany. During this time, he developed his fascination for microbes that thrive at the thermodynamic edge of live. When not tormenting others with electron transport chains and thermodynamic calculations, he enjoys the outdoors, playing football (also known as soccer in some parts of the world) and cooking.

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Postdoc: Dr Surbhi Jain

Coming from a background in anaerobic microbiology, Surbhi completed her PhD in 2022 in the research group of Prof. Dr. Volker Müller at Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany. She genetically modified the acetogenic bacterium Thermoanaerobacter kivui, which grows on C1 gases to produce value-added chemicals such as acetate, ethanol, or formate. She is passionate about climate change research and is continuing to work with industry-focused research in the Greening lab, focusing on conversion of greenhouse gases into sustainable animal feeds using mixotrophic bacteria. In her spare time, Surbhi likes to do yoga and go biking.

ResearchGate | Scholar

PhD Student: Nadeesha Athukorala

Nadeesha’s research research focuses on enhancing methane removal and protein production using proteobacterial and verrucomicrobial methanotrophs. During her B.Sc. Honours in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology at the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka, she identified a lipolytic Trichoderma sp. and characterized its lipase. She then spent one and a half years as a Teaching and Research Assistant at the University of Peradeniya, where she studied Cryptosporidium species infecting kidney transplant patients and zoonotic diseases in Sri Lanka. She joined the Greening Lab as a PhD student in February 2023. Nadeesha enjoys reading novels and going on road trips in her leisure time.