Professor Paula Mouser is researching how microbial community dynamics influence bioenvironmental processes such as legacy contamination, urbanization, energy development, and environmental stewardship. Professor Mouser uses molecular-genome tools to monitor bacterial species and microbial community-level shifts in pristine and contaminated environmental systems, and determine the major nutrients (carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus) influencing their abundance and activities in the subsurface. Her research measures the activity level of microbial genes involved in transformation processes to determine nutrient limitations, quantify rates of biogeochemical cycles, and develop methods for enhancing remediation. Specific applications of her research include assessing nitrogen dynamics during the bioremediation of an aquifer impacted by  uranium mining, the detection and attenuation of pollutants in aquifers impacted by leaking landfills, and the transformation of nitrogen and species and methane in wetland environments.

Dr. Mouser joined the OSU faculty during the summer of 2011.   More information of her research can be found here:  http://www2.ceegs.ohio-state.edu/~pmouser/