Microbial biogeochemistry of trace metals

My research focuses on metal-microbe interactions, and how microorganisms influence the biogeochemical cycling of trace metals in the environment. This research is highly interdisciplinary and incorporates principles of microbial physiology, genetics, microbial ecology, and trace metal chemistry using a combination of bench top experiments with cultures and field samples to gain greater mechanistic understanding of how microbes drive trace metal cycling.

Research Interests:

• microbial transformations in northern wetlands
• metal availability in northern wetlands
• trace metal bioavailability and metal homeostasis in microbes living in the absence of oxygen
• mercury uptake in microorganisms
• mercury methylation and demethylation

Courses taught at Rutgers:

• Introduction to Environmental Sciences (Fall and Spring)
• Soil Ecology 11:375:453 and 16:375:573 (Fall)
• Analytical Environmental Chemistry Lab 11:375:310 (Spring)

Jeffra K Schaefer
Associate Research Professor
Undergraduate Program Director
Dept. of Environmental Sciences
Rutgers University
(848) 932-5779
​jschaefer@envsci.rutgers.edu
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