I am a PhD candidate in biomolecular and structural chemistry at the Department of Chemistry at UiT – The Arctic University of Norway. My background is a master’s degree in biochemistry from The Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), where my thesis focused on lignocellulose-degrading enzymes from the bacteria Thermobifida fusca.
My current work revolves around the characterization of lignocellulose-degrading enzymes from bacteria associated with wood-boring bivalves called shipworms. We aim to understand more about the nature and characteristics of wood-degrading enzymes from marine, cold-adapted organisms. How do these organisms adapt their enzymes to their environment, and how does this differ from wood-degrading enzymes on land? How could this benefit the industry? Creating valuable products from woody biomass is a massive industry where the use of enzymes is imperative. More resources put into studying marine wood-degrading enzymes could be a game-changer for the development of this industry.
My PhD project is closely related to the META-MINE project “Mining the microbiomes from marine wood-digesting bivalves for novel lignocellulose depolymerizing enzymes” an international collaboration between scientists from Norway (UiT and NMBU), Germany, Romania and The Azores.