I am a researcher in microbial ecology applied to sustainable aquaculture at the IFREMER institute and in the MARine Biodiversity, Exploitation and Conservation research (MARBEC) unit (UMR) in Sète and Palavas-les-flots, France. I am a microbial ecologist with a broad experience in microbial community ecology, genomics and bioinformatics. My research consists in understanding ecological patterns of microbial communities, free-living or associated with a host such as algae, by investigating their diversity and assembling processes, their interactions with the environment and their adaptation to specific ecological niches.
I did a PhD thesis in marine microbiology at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology and at the Jacobs University, Bremen, Germany (graduated in 2010), where I developed metabarcoding data analyses tools and studied the diversity, the composition and the structure of free-living microbial communities in coastal sediments. During my post-doctoral experience in France, I worked at the Station Biologique de Roscoff, at the Genoscope (Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies, CEA), and at the South Brittany University. I investigated ecological patterns of protist communities in European coastal areas and microbiota-host and microbiota-microbiota interactions as well. I studied diet-driven microbiological patterns of a generalist marine herbivore, the abalone, and algal polysaccharides degradation abilities, antibiofilm activities and resistance to host stress of marine bacteria.
Since 2019, I work on sustainable aquaculture, more specifically on microalgae assemblages and their interaction with the surrounding microbiota. My research focuses on characterizing and unveiling the role of microalgal polycultures to bioremediate effluents. I have worked and maintain ongoing collaborations with marine aquaculture farms and biotechnological companies in France (e.g. France Haliotis, the CEVA, GREENSEA, Coldep). I am a board member of the Société Phycologique de France (SPF, French Phycological Society).