Noémie Lavoie
I am a MSc. Biology student exploring the role of bacteria on mercury cycling in the environment. Mercury is one of the most toxic heavy metals that bioaccumulates in plant and animal tissues as microbially generated methylmercury, thus understanding the factors that affect mercury’s fate in the environment is of utmost importance. My research thus far has been focused on elucidating a cellular mechanism by which diverse anaerobic bacteria have been shown to reduce Hg2+ to volatile Hg0. This mercury reduction is an important part of the cycling of this toxic metal as it has the potential to volatilize mercury out of anoxic systems and limit the formation of methylmercury.