Wikipedia

Mina Bizic

Mina Bizic is an environmental microbiologist with particular interest in aquatic systems. She is mostly known for her work on organic matter particles and oxic methane production. Since July 2024, she is a Full Professor at the Technische Universität Berlin and Chair of Environmental Microbiomics at the Institute of Environmental Technology.[1][2][3] She was named a fellow of the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) in 2022, and is serving on the ASLO board of directors where she is chairing the Early Career Committee.

Mina Bizic
Born
Belgrade, Serbia
NationalityGerman, Israeli
Alma materUniversity of Belgrade (B.Sc.)
Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology (PhD)
University of Oldenburg
SpouseDanny Ionescu
Children2
Scientific career
FieldsMicrobiology, Environmental science
InstitutionsTechnische Universität Berlin
Kinneret Limnological Laboratory
Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries
ThesisPolyphasic comparison of limnic and marine particle-associated bacteria (2014)

Education and career

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Bizic completed her Diploma studies in General Biology, and Hydroecology and Water Protection at the University of Belgrade from 1999 to 2005. Following her diploma, in 2005–2006, she engaged in transdisciplinary academic research in Ancient Jewish texts studies at the European Institute for Jewish Studies in Sweden (PAIDEIA).[4] She later moved to Israel, where she worked for three years at the Kinneret Limnological Laboratory (KLL) of the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research[5] (IOLR).

Subsequently, Bizic earned her Ph.D. from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen and the University of Oldenburg as part of The International Max Planck Research School of Marine Microbiology (MarMic) Her doctoral thesis was titled "Polyphasic comparison of limnic and marine particle-associated bacteria".[6] Following her Ph.D., she conducted a postdoc at the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB). In 2019, Bizic obtained a DFG German Research Foundation independent researcher grant.[7]

Research

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During her investigations into marine and lake snow, Bizic and her collaborators developed a novel experimental device, a flow-through rolling tank, which facilitates long-term experiments on marine and lake snow[8] while addressing biases inherent in closed systems, commonly referred to as the bottle effect.[9] Using this device, Bizic demonstrated that microbial degradation of marine snow takes longer than predicted using closed experimental systems. This finding implies that the biological carbon pump may sequester more carbon than experimentally estimated.

In a subsequent study, Bizic and her colleagues conducted the first research utilizing molecular tools to focus on individual marine and lake snow particles rather than pooling thousands together. This groundbreaking study revealed that particles from the same source are colonized by different bacteria, in what appears to be a stochastic colonization process. Furthermore, the study highlighted that, at the early stages of colonization, bacterial succession is primarily driven by competition rather than a change in the quality of available organic matter.[10]

In parallel with her work on marine and lake snow, Bizic has delved into aerobic methane production,[11] a phenomenon known as "The Methane Paradox".[12] This process is increasingly recognized as a significant source of the potent greenhouse gas methane in aquatic systems. Bizic and her colleagues were the first to demonstrate the conversion of methylamines to methane under aerobic conditions.[13] This process was later comprehensively characterized by Wang and colleagues.[14] Subsequently, Bizic and her team revealed that cyanobacteria, the most abundant photosynthetic organisms on Earth, emit methane as a byproduct of photosynthesis.[15][16][17][18][19][20][21] The implications of this discovery were explored by Bizic in a subsequent opinion paper.[22]

Recognition and activities

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In 2022, Bizic was elected to the Board of Directors of the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO).[23] She currently serves as a member at large and chairs the Early Career committee of ASLO, organizing activities for the benefit of early career scientists such as the promotion of early creer scientist from historically excluded groups[24] as well as organizing webinars to improve the mental well-being of scientists.[25] Bizic's contributions to aquatic research and to ASLO were further acknowledged when she was named an ASLO fellow in 2022.[26]

 
Dr Mina Bizic at Soapbox Science in Berlin 2020

Beyond her academic endeavors, Bizic is involved in the Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network (GLEON), and as of 2024, serves as a member in their committee for inclusive collaboration.[27] Bizic has participated in interviews, events and panel discussions addressing the role of women in science such as the Marthe Vogt podcast[28][29] and the Soapbox Science.[30][31]

Personal life

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Mina Bizic was born in Belgrade, Serbia, and has lived in Sweden and Israel. In 2009, she relocated to Germany. She is the sibling of opera singer David Bizic and is married to fellow scientist Danny Ionescu, with whom she has two children.[28]

References

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Notes

  1. ^ Prof. Mina Bizic joins the Department of Environmental Microbiomics. Technische Universität Berlin. (2024, July 18). https://www.tu.berlin/en/fakultaet3/news-details/prof-mina-bizic-joins-the-department-of-environmental-microbiomics
  2. ^ “they are in every drop of water on our planet.” IGB. (2024, June 27). https://www.igb-berlin.de/en/news/they-are-every-drop-water-our-planet?s=09
  3. ^ Environmental microbiology. (n.d.). https://www.tu.berlin/en/umb
  4. ^ "Catalogue. Jewish Perspectives. The Paideia Decennial Conference. On Transformations in Contemporary Europe - PDF Free Download".
  5. ^ https://www.gov.il/BlobFolder/reports/studies2006/he/water-sources-status_research_2006_SedimentationRates2010.pdf
  6. ^ Mina, Bižić-Ionescu (2014-04-24). Polyphasic comparison of limnic and marine particle-associated bacteria (Thesis).
  7. ^ "DFG - GEPRIS - Dr. Mina Bizic". gepris.dfg.de. Retrieved 2024-01-25.
  8. ^ Ionescu, Danny; Bizic-Ionescu, Mina; Khalili, Arzhang; Malekmohammadi, Reza; Morad, Mohammad Reza; de Beer, Dirk; Grossart, Hans-Peter (2015-10-05). "A new tool for long-term studies of POM-bacteria interactions: overcoming the century-old Bottle Effect". Scientific Reports. 5 (1): 14706. Bibcode:2015NatSR...514706I. doi:10.1038/srep14706. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 4592964. PMID 26435525.
  9. ^ Hammes, Frederik; Vital, Marius; Egli, Thomas (February 2010). "Critical Evaluation of the Volumetric "Bottle Effect" on Microbial Batch Growth". Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 76 (4): 1278–1281. Bibcode:2010ApEnM..76.1278H. doi:10.1128/AEM.01914-09. ISSN 0099-2240. PMC 2820953. PMID 20023110.
  10. ^ Bižić-Ionescu, Mina; Ionescu, Danny; Grossart, Hans-Peter (2018). "Organic Particles: Heterogeneous Hubs for Microbial Interactions in Aquatic Ecosystems". Frontiers in Microbiology. 9: 2569. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2018.02569. ISSN 1664-302X. PMC 6212488. PMID 30416497.
  11. ^ Sivan, Orit, et al. “Geochemical Evidence for Iron-Mediated Anaerobic Oxidation of Methane.” Limnology and Oceanography, vol. 56, no. 4, 2011, pp. 1536–44. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26953935. Accessed 26 Jan. 2024.
  12. ^ Bižić, Mina; Grossart, Hans-Peter; Ionescu, Danny (2020). "Methane Paradox". Encyclopedia of Life Sciences. pp. 1–11. doi:10.1002/9780470015902.a0028892. ISBN 978-0-470-01617-6. S2CID 242227836.
  13. ^ Bižić-Ionescu, Mina; Ionescu, Danny; Günthel, Marco; Tang, Kam W.; Grossart, Hans-Peter (2018), Stams, Alfons J.M.; Sousa, Diana (eds.), "Oxic Methane Cycling: New Evidence for Methane Formation in Oxic Lake Water", Biogenesis of Hydrocarbons, Handbook of Hydrocarbon and Lipid Microbiology, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 1–22, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-53114-4_10-1, ISBN 978-3-319-53114-4, retrieved 2024-01-25
  14. ^ Wang, Qian; Alowaifeer, Abdullah; Kerner, Patricia; Balasubramanian, Narayanaganesh; Patterson, Angela; Christian, William; Tarver, Angela; Dore, John E.; Hatzenpichler, Roland; Bothner, Brian; McDermott, Timothy R. (2021-07-06). "Aerobic bacterial methane synthesis". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 118 (27). Bibcode:2021PNAS..11819229W. doi:10.1073/pnas.2019229118. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 8271786. PMID 34183407.
  15. ^ Bižić, M.; Klintzsch, T.; Ionescu, D.; Hindiyeh, M. Y.; Günthel, M.; Muro-Pastor, A. M.; Eckert, W.; Urich, T.; Keppler, F.; Grossart, H.-P. (2020-01-17). "Aquatic and terrestrial cyanobacteria produce methane". Science Advances. 6 (3): eaax5343. Bibcode:2020SciA....6.5343B. doi:10.1126/sciadv.aax5343. ISSN 2375-2548. PMC 6962044. PMID 31998836.
  16. ^ “Cyanobacteria Important Contributor to Greenhouse Gases.” Technology Networks, https://www.technologynetworks.com/tn/news/cyanobacteria-important-contributor-to-greenhouse-gases-329528. Accessed 26 Jan. 2024.
  17. ^ Neumann, Nadja. “Cyanobacteria in Water and on Land Identified as Source of Methane.” IGB, 15 Jan. 2020, https://www.igb-berlin.de/en/news/cyanobacteria-water-and-land-identified-source-methane.
  18. ^ Newsroom (2020) Cyanobacteria produce methane. Available at: https://www.uni-heidelberg.de/en/newsroom/cyanobacteria-produce-methane (Accessed: 26 January 2024).
  19. ^ Dapcevich, M. (2020) Researchers discover surprising new source of methane emissions lurking in Global Waters, IFLScience. Available at: https://www.iflscience.com/researchers-discover-surprising-new-source-of-methane-emissions-lurking-in-global-waters-54719 (Accessed: 26 January 2024).
  20. ^ Leitch, C. (2020) Photosynthetic algae found to produce methane: Microbiology, Labroots. Available at: https://www.labroots.com/trending/microbiology/16623/photosynthetic-algae-found-produce-methane (Accessed: 26 January 2024).
  21. ^ “Front Matter.” Limnology and Oceanography, vol. 65, no. 12, 2020. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/27000485. Accessed 26 Jan. 2024.
  22. ^ "Phytoplankton photosynthesis: an unexplored source of biogenic methane emission from oxic environments". academic.oup.com. Retrieved 2024-01-25.
  23. ^ "Board of Directors". ASLO. Retrieved 2024-01-25.
  24. ^ "Amplifying Voices Webinars". ASLO. Retrieved 2024-01-25.
  25. ^ Kemp, Paul (2023-03-23). "Well-being in aquatic sciences: An early career initiative". ASLO. Retrieved 2024-01-25.
  26. ^ "ASLO Fellows". ASLO. Retrieved 2024-01-25.
  27. ^ Cuker, Benjamin E., and Jeanette Davis. “SPOTLIGHT: The ASLO Multicultural Program Pioneers Diversity Efforts in the Aquatic Sciences.” Oceanography, vol. 36, no. 4, 2023, pp. 85–87. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/27278261. Accessed 26 Jan. 2024.
  28. ^ a b "#02 - Aquatic ecologist Dr. Mina Bizic (IGB): Exploring life in water and dealing with dual careers in science".[self-published]
  29. ^ "Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V. - Marthe Vogt Podcast".
  30. ^ "Soapbox Science 2020 Berlin". SoapboxScience. 2020-09-14. Retrieved 2024-01-25.
  31. ^ "Facebook". facebook.com. Retrieved 2024-01-25.[self-published]

Sources

  • Gilbert, Patricia; M. Kana, Todd (2016-07-25). Aquatic Microbial Ecology and Biogeochemistry: A Dual Perspective. Springer International Publishing. ISBN 9783319302591.
  • J. M. Stams, Alfons; M. Sosa, Diana (2018-05-13). Biogenesis of Hydrocarbons. Springer International Publishing. ISBN 9783319781075.
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