Dr Alexandre Barretto de Menezes (ABM) joined NUI Galway as a lecturer in soil microbiology in January 2017. Dr. de Menezes is specialised in molecular microbial ecology, and metagenomics and has expertise in multivariate statistical analyses and correlation network analysis. After obtaining a PhD at the University of Liverpool, ABM worked as a postdoc at the University of College Dublin, where he used next-generation sequencing to characterise the gut microbiome of dairy cows undergoing methane mitigation experiments and the metatranscriptome of soils exposed to pollutants. Subsequently, ABM worked as a postdoc at CSIRO in Canberra, Australia, where he used molecular, biogeochemical and environmental sensor data to study variability in soil microbial ecosystem function. At CSIRO, ABM worked onmolecular analysis of cellulose degradation genes, fungal-bacterial associations in soil, the effects of invasive earthworms on soil microbial communities and the impacts of wildfire on soil microbes. Prior to his current position, ABM worked as a Research Fellow at the University of Salford, UK.Lab website:a target=_blank rel=nofollow href=https:www.demenezeslab.comhttps:www.demenezeslab.com

My research interest is in determining the drivers of microbial ecosystem function, particularly in the soil environmentbut also in the mammalian rumen. I have experience in next generation sequencing, bacterial 16S rRNA sequence analysis, metagenomics and metatranscriptomics. I work with a range of topics, including climate change, bioremediation, land use change and sustainable agriculture. I also have a long-standinginterest in working with microbial glycoside hydrolase genes, their diversity and role in the environment as well as potential applications.

My teaching can be divided broadly into 1) microbial ecology and 2) the bioinformatics, genomics and statistical tools used to study microbiomes and metagenomes. The microbial ecology component of my teaching can be divided into a) soil microbiology; b) plant microbiome; c) rumen, mice and reptiliangut microbiomes; d) economically relevant microbial processes in health and agriculture; e) microbial roles in global nutrient cycles, climate change and food security.Mybioinformatics teaching can be divided intoa) introductory concepts in DNARNA sequence alignments; b) sequence searches and annotation; c) phylogenetic tree building methods; d) introductory concepts in genome sequencing and annotation; d)metagenomicmicrobiome sequencing with high-throughput sequencing; f) metagenomemicrobiome data analysis and interpretation.