Contact: Santona.Khatun@unil.ch
Office: Geopolis 3120
Research Interest:
I am highly interested in the biogeochemistry of freshwaterecosystems. In particular, the influence of nutrient stoichiometry on plankton communities and methane dynamics in Lake Geneva. The microorganisms of an ecosystem interact with each other in the biogeochemical cycling of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus (C, N, P). Thus, I focus on studying freshwater lakes to elucidate the stoichiometric balance of theseelements and dictate the structure of planktonic microbial communities, thereby controlling the greenhouse emissions infreshwater lakes. I also predict that the human-induced nutrient enrichments might impact the ecophysiology of microbial communities under the predicted climate change scenario, and subsequently may influence the environmental changeslike aerobic production of methane. Therefore, I have always found aquatic ecology exciting to identify how different microbial communities respond to such environmental challenges and to mitigate climate change as well as protect Earth’s ecosystems.
Biography:
2022-Present: Post-doctoral fellow in the Lakes Group of the Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics, University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
Project: Influence of nutrient stoichiometry on plankton communities and methane dynamics in Lake Geneva.
2020-2022: Research associate at the Department of Soil, Water and Environment (with Prof. Dr. Mustafizur Rahman), University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Associate Program officer at Environment and Social Development Organization, ESDO.
2016-2020: PhD in Interdisciplinary Science on Nature, Biotic and Social Environmental Engineering at the Integrated graduate school of medicine, engineering, and agricultural sciences, University of Yamanashi, Japan.
Title: Elucidating the mechanism of aerobic methane production in Lakes.
2014-2016: Master’s in interdisciplinary science at the Integrated graduate school of medicine, engineering, and agricultural sciences, University of Yamanashi, Japan.
Title: Aerobic methane production by eukaryotic algae in freshwater ecosystems.
Publications:
- Khatun, S., Ferdous, H., Hossain, S., Sultana, S., Choi, I., Lee, Y.-S. (2022) Detection of Endocrine Disruptor Bisphenol A and Bisphenol S in Bangladeshi Thermal Paper Receipts. Environ. Sci. Proc. 20, 1.
- Iwata, T., Khatun, S., Kojima, H., Ishida, D., Kenta, T., Shinohara, R., Saito, H. (2020) Aerobic methane production by eukaryotic green algae in freshwater ecosystems. (Paper in progress for publication).
- Khatun, S., Iwata, T., Kojima, H., Ikarashi, Y., Yamanami, K., Imazawa, D., Kenta, T., Shinohara, R., Saito, H. (2020) Linking stoichiometric organic carbon-nitrogen relationships to planktonic cyanobacteria and subsurface methane maximum in deep freshwater lakes. Water 12, 402.
- Khatun, S., Iwata, T., Kojima, H., Fukui, M., Aoki, T., Mochizuki, S., Naito, A., Kobayashi, A., Uzawa, R. (2019) Aerobic methane production by planktonic microbes in lakes. Sci. Total Environ. 696, 133916.
- Khatun, S., Ahmed, S.U., Faiz, S.M.A., Rahman, A.H.M. (2015) Impacts of tillage operations and microirrigation practices on weed infestation of BRRI dhan 28. Dhaka Univ. J. Bio. Sci. 24, 131-136.
- Khatun, S., Ahmed, S.U., Faiz, S.M.A., Rahman, A.H.M. (2014) Impacts of tillage operations and microirrigation practices on Boro rice. Bangladesh J. Envir. Sci. 27, 73-78.