Lucien Alperstein

I am a microbial ecologist with a special interest in environmental microbiology. My passion for fermentation brought me back to university to study microbiology as a mature age student at UNSW. After completing honours at the University of Adelaide I continued research work there both in and out of the lab, working on a range of projects from the microbial ecology of fermented drinks, perceptions of GMO use in agriculture, and biotechnological research exploring useful chemicals derived from soil bacteria. In 2023 I returned to UNSW to start my PhD and officiate my connection to both the ocean and microbial ecology with the MEME lab under Prof Suhelen Egan.

Supervised by: Suhelen Egan, Masayuki Tatsumi (Sea Forest), Chris Marquis

Project Title: Understanding the role of seaweed microbiomes and their influence on growth and metabolite production in macroalga Asparagopsis armata.

Project Description: In my PhD I am working with Asparagopsis armata, a red seaweed endemic to the southern waters of Australia. Asparagopsis is the target of a new and rapidly expanding aquaculture industry because of the seaweed's ability to drastically reduce methane emissions from cows and other ruminants. However, we still know very little about how best to grow Asparagopsis. We also don't know how its microbiome - the community of microorganisms that live on its surface - might help facilitiate its growth and production of the anti-methanogic compounds it makes.
I am testing whether probiotics (beneficial bacteria) found on wild and healthy Asparagopsis can be used to benefit cultivated Asparagopsis by boosting its growth or increasing the production of its active ingredient, bromoform.
I am also keeping track of what happens to the Asparagopsis microbiome following probiotic treatment and seeing if we can introduce beneficial bacteria that remain a part of microbiome without repeated application.