Missions

The person recruited will join the LMGE laboratory (UMR 6023 CNRS, BioAdapt team). The aim is to explore photosynthetic activity and primary production in clouds. It has been shown that clouds are home to a wide variety of living micro-organisms (bacteria, fungi, algae, etc.), whose heterotrophic activity contributes to the chemistry of organic carbon. The aim here is to explore autotrophic processes (carbon fixation by photosynthesis), in order to estimate the carbon sink/source effect linked to the cloud microbiota, and its dependence on environmental variables.

Activities

The person recruited will participate in cloud sampling operations from the Puy de Dôme atmospheric station, in the design, organisation and execution of analyses and experiments, in the analysis and interpretation of data, and will contribute to their communication (publications, conferences). The research activities and objectives are to :
- Document the abundance and diversity of phototrophs in clouds, with a focus on diatoms, their pigments and their potential for photosynthetic activity, using cultural and molecular approaches (e.g. metagenomics, quantitative PCR), flow cytometry and fluorescence methods (e.g. phytopam);
- Assess the potential for photosynthetic activity in clouds, via the study of isolates (dependence on light intensity, temperature, etc). - To provide a quantitative estimate of the extent of photosynthetic activity in clouds, in terms of carbon flux, using microcosm approaches involving natural cloud water and the use of methods such as stable isotope enrichment.

Skills

We are looking for highly motivated candidates with a proven track record of scientific achievement through publications in international journals and communications. Candidates must have defended a doctoral thesis in environmental microbiology or a closely related scientific field within the last 2 years, with skills among:
- General knowledge of microbiology and microbial physiology
- Work in sterile conditions
- Collection of environmental samples
- Microbial cultures (phototrophic)
- Measurement of enzymatic activities, physiological and metabolic analyses
- Microscopy, flow cytometry
- Metagenomics/ qPCR
- Bioinformatics/ analysis of DNA sequencing data
- Analytical chemistry; isotopic methods
- Statistical analyses
- Writing of publications in English

Work Context

The person recruited will join the BioAdapt team at the LMGE (Laboratoire Microorganismes : Génome et Environnement, UMR6023 CNRS UCA, Clermont-ferrand, France), a microbiology/microbial ecology laboratory, and will work closely with partner LaMP (Laboratoire de Météorologie Physique, UMR6016 CNRS UCA, Clermont-ferrand, France) for cloud sampling operations at the Puy de Dôme summit atmospheric station, and EABX (Écosystèmes aquatiques et changements globaux, UR INRAE, Bordeaux, France) for the study of isolated microorganisms and their genetic and physiological characteristics.
The following references can be consulted for examples of recent work by the host teams:
- Comparative analysis of bacterial diversity in clouds and aerosols : https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2023.119635
- Clouds influence the functioning of airborne microorganisms : https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1257-2025
- Cyanobacteria and algae in clouds and rain in the area of puy de Dôme, Central France : https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.01850-20
- Assessing the efficiency of water-soluble organic compound biodegradation in clouds under various environmental conditions : https://doi.org/10.1039/d2ea00153e
- Bacterial contribution to nitrogen processing in the atmosphere : https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3534
- Microorganisms in the air through the lenses of atmospheric chemistry and microphysics : https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-243-2025

Constraints and risks

- Field sampling
- Computer work
- Handling of microbial strains and potentially dangerous chemical compounds