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Doctor Loïc Nazaries
Dr Loïc Nazaries joined the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment in 2010 as a postdoctoral fellow to work with Associate Prof. Brajesh Singh
After obtaining a diploma in pharmacology and animal experimentation from the Institute of Technology at the University of Clermont-Ferrand (France), I moved to Aberdeen (Scotland) in 2002 to study for a BSc (Honours) in biomedical microbiology at the Robert Gordon University. The first year of the BSc was sponsored by the Institute of Technology (University of Clermont-Ferrand) and the department of Auvergne (France). While studying for my BSc, I worked on many projects at the Rowett Research Institute under the supervision of Prof. Harry McArdle, Dr Charlotte Maltin and Dr Denis Balcerzak. I examined the effect of iron deficiency during pregnancy (using a human placental cell model) or on the developing muscle (using live tissue from rat). I was also involved in a drug trial testing the effects on food intake, growth and post-denervation muscle atrophy in rat. In 2005, I graduated from a Masters degree in instrumental analytical sciences with a specialty in forensic sciences at the Robert Gordon University. However, I did my Masters project in rhizosphere-microbial interactions at the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute (now known as James Hutton Institute) under the supervision of Dr Brajesh Singh. There I optimised the multiplex T-RFLP technique for the simultaneous detection of several soil microbial species. In 2007, I started my PhD project looking at the effects of land-use change on the structure of the soil methanotrophic community. This involved extensive field work sampling, soil analysis, methane flux analysis using a laboratory-based closed-chamber system, and molecular characterisation of methanotrophic communities using various molecular techniques. Although based at the Macaulay Institute – supervised by Dr Brajesh Singh, Prof. Pete Millard and Prof. Elizabeth Baggs – I was part of the team of Prof. Colin Murrell at the University of Warwick (England). During the course of my PhD, I had world-wide collaborations with scientists such as Dr Kevin Tate at Landcare Research Institute (New Zealand), Dr Bruce Ball at Scottish Agricultural College Edinburgh (Scotland) and Dr Levente Bodrossy at CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research (Tasmania).
Areas of research/teaching expertise
Soil microbial communities; interactions of soil microbes with rhizosphere; molecular ecology of methanotrophs; modelling of national green-house gases (in particular methane – CH4) net emissions from regional measurements in relation to land-use changes (such as afforestation/reforestation); climate change.
The following images depict a native eucalypt tree forest in the Cumberland Plain, NSW.
The following images show the setting up of a PVC chamber for measuring greenhouse gas fluxes.
The following image was taken at the Hawkesbury Forest Experiment (HFE), whereby the effect of irrigation and fertilisation on Eucalypt trees is investigated. The image highlights the difference in understorey vegetation.
Awards and recognition
- Winner for best oral presentation at the Student Seminar day (2010) at the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute.
- Higher commendation for oral presentation at the Student Seminar day (2009) at the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute.
- Travel Grant from the Society of General Microbiology.
- Sponsorship from the Institute of Technology (University of Clermont-Ferrand) and the department of Auvergne for the first year of BSc (Hons) at the Robert Gordon University.
Selected publications
Nazaries L, Yao P, Bodrossy L, Baggs EM, Millard P, Murrell JC, Singh BK, (2011) 'Effect of afforestation of a peatland and grassland into pine forest on the mitigation of CH4 and the shift in methanotrophic diversity' In preparation
Nazaries L, Yao P, Bodrossy L, Baggs EM, Millard P, Murrell JC, Singh BK, (2011) 'Effect of invasion of heathland with birch trees on the mitigation of CH4 and the shift in methanotrophic diversity' In preparation
Nazaries L, Millard P, Baggs EM, Murrell JC, Singh BK, (2011) 'Methane, methanotrophs and modelling', In preparation
Nazaries L, Millard P, Baggs EM, Murrell JC, Singh BK, (2011) 'PCR optimisation for the detection of functional genes using the Taguchi methods' In preparation
Nazaries L, Tate KR, Ross DJ, Singh J, Dando J, Baggs EM, Millard P, Murrell JC, Singh BK, (2011) 'Response of methanotroph communities to afforestation and reforestation in New Zealand', ISME Journal, vol.5, pp 1832-1836
Nazaries L, Tate KR, Millard P, Baggs EM, Murrell JC, Singh BK, (2010) 'Ecology of the active methanotroph community: an adaptive response to reforestation of pasture in New Zealand', Poster abstract for the 13th ISME, August 2010
Singh BK, Nazaries L, Munro S, Anderson IC, Campbell C, (2006) 'Use of multiplex terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism for rapid and simultaneous analysis of different components of the soil microbial community', Applied and Environmental Microbiology, vol.72, pp 7278-7285
