Michael Kuhl

Cand. scient (biologi); PhD (Mikrobiologi)

  • Strandpromenaden 5

    3000 Helsingør

Personlig profil

Kort præsentation

I am trained in marine biology and microbial ecology but have broad interdisciplinary interests ranging from technicalities of sensor development, over a fascination of single cell microbiology and behaviour, to studies of microenvironmental controls and microbial interactions in aquatic communities and ecosystems, but also in medical biofilms and chronic infections. I enjoy working at the boundaries and interfaces of different scientific disciplines and implement sensor chemistry, photonics, 3D bioprinting and advanced imaging approaches in my research.

Microenvironmental Ecology and Symbiosis Research Group:
5 postdocs, 3 PhD students, 2 external PhD students (at University of Aveiro, Portugal and UTS), 1 technician

Research interests:
Microenvironmental ecology of surface-associated microbial communities, aquatic plants and marine symbioses; Microsensor and imaging techniques for biogeochemical analysis of microenvironments, mass transfer and metabolic rates; Optical properties and photobiology of sediments, photosynthetic tissues and biofilms; Microbial behaviour and activity in gradient systems; 3D Bioprinting; Biophotonics.

Teaching

BSc Biology study:
Marine Field Biology, Applied Marine Biology, Biochemistry
MSc Biology study: Arctic Biology; Advanced Bacteriology; Marine Biology; Marine Microbiology and Virology.
Bi-annual Ph.D. course: Microsensor Analysis in Environmental Science.
Annual Ph.D. course: Advanced Biofilm Course.

Experimental techniques:

Electrochemical and fiber-optic microsensors; Ratiometric and life-time based luminescence imaging of oxygen and pH; Variable chlorophyll fluorescence imaging; Confocal microscopy and light sheet microscopy; Microspectrometry and hyper-spectral imaging; 3D Bioprinting; Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT); Digital holotomographic microscopy; Planar and nano/micro particle-based chemical sensing; Cultivation.

Current projects
Photobiology of surface-associated microbial communities and symbioses.
Microbiology and biogeochemistry of microbial mats in hot springs (Yellowstone National Park, USA).
Marine symbiosis and coral bleaching (Great Barrier Reef, Australia).
Microscopic imaging of oxygen, pH and active chlorophyll fluorescence.
Optics and photobiology of photosynthetic biofilms, plant and animal tissues.
Hyper-spectral imaging of photosynthetic communities and tissues.
Microenvironment and microbiology of Ikka columns (Greenland).
Microenvironmental analysis of biofilms. 3D Bioprinting of living structures.
Biophotonics of corals and diatoms.
Microenvironment of macroalgae and seagrasses.
Oxidative stress in biofilms, corals and other symbioses.
Microenvironmental Ecology of chronic Infections.

Other activities
Member of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters (2006-present).
Scientific cruise leader on the Galathea 3 expedition 2006 (Leg. Accra,Ghana-Cape Town, South Africa).
Associate editor of Environmental Microbiology, Biofilm and Frontiers of Marine Science - Coral Research; Member of the Faculty of 1000 /Biology/Environmental Microbiology

Institutional activities

Deputy head for research at the Department of Biology (2006-2015).

Other affiliations

(2010-2020) Adjunct professor, Climate Change Cluster, Universuty of Technology Sydney, Australia.

(2011-2015) Visiting professor, Singapore Centre on Environmental Life Sciences Engineering, Nanyang technological University, Singapore.

Current funding:

Current funding:

2025, Leister Foundation: “Microbial Life in Greenland’s Geothermal Springs”
(Participation in the Leister Go West Greenland Expedition, July/August 2025, all costs covered by the foundation)

2024-2026, Villum Foundation: “CORALS - New strategies for harvesting solar energy using coral-inspired microgeometry”
(Villum Exploratory Synergy grant, 24 months, Co-PI with Jeppe Friisval at DTU Compute, 50% of 3 million DKK)

2023-2026, Australian Research Council: “Resolving the threat of ocean deoxygenation to coral resilience”
(ARC Discovery grant, 3 years, Co-PI, 3.5 million DKK)

2023-2026, European Union:  Doctoral network on 3D fluorescence lifetime imaging and analysis, FLimagin3D (MSCA DN ITN grant, Co-PI and main supervisor for 1 PhD student, 2 million DKK)

2023-2025, Villum Foundation: “Imaging of temperature distributions over flow-exposed aquatic surfaces”
(Villum Experiment grant, 24 months, 2 million DKK)

2020-2027 Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation: “Microenvironmental landscape ecology of coral holobionts”
(Investigator grant, PI, 12.9 + 2.6 million DKK)

Main supervisor/host for postdoctoral career grants:

2023-2025, European Union: “A Microscale View to Coral Function in a Changing Environment (MicroCoFe”)
(Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship 24 months, main host for Cesar Pacherres, 1.5 million DKK)

2023-2024, European Union: “MedCorP”
(Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship 24 months, main host for Walter Dellisanti, 1.5 million DKK)

Research output (1992-present):

A total of 351 publications (published or in press) from 1992-present, consisting of 326 papers in peer-reviewed journals, proceedings and books, 12 proceedings papers and reports, 3 edited e-books, and 10 popular science papers. Includes 2 Nature [IF>69], 1 Trends in Plant Science [IF>22], 1 Nature Climate Change [IF>21], 1 Trends in Ecology and Evolution [IF>20], 1 Advanced Functional Materials [IF>19], 1 Trends in Microbiology [IF>18], 1 Nature Communications [IF>17], 1 Biotechnology Advances [IF>17], 1 Microbiome [IF>16], 1 International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents [IF>15], 1 FEMS Microbiology Reviews [IF>15], 1 Science Advances [IF>14], 1 Water Research [IF>13], 1 Global Change Biology [IF>13], 4 PNAS [IF >11], 12 ISME Journal [IF>11], 2 Environmental Science & Technology [IF>11], 1 Journal of Membrane Science [IF>10], and 4 New Phytologist [IF>9] papers.

Web-of-Science (>15400 citations; H-index of 70), Google Scholar (>23200 citations; H-index of 85)

 

Eksterne ansættelser

Max Planck Institut für Marine Mikrobiologie

nov. 1992jun. 1998

Aarhus University

nov. 1988okt. 1992

Emneord

  • Det Natur- og Biovidenskabelige Fakultet
  • Mikrobiologi
  • Økologi
  • Fotobiologi
  • Marinbiologi
  • Mikrosensorer
  • Imaging
  • Mikroskopi
  • Symbiose
  • Biofilm
  • Mikrobielle måtter
  • Koralrev
  • Isalger
  • Mikroorganismers motilitet og adfærd

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