Angela Woods

Contact/Address

e-mail:
angela.woods@ufz.de

Tel. : +49 341 235 1018
Fax : +49 341 235 1443

Department Isotope Biogeochemistry
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ
Permoserstraße 15,
04318 Leipzig, Germany

Angela Woods

Curriculum Vitae

Since 07/2011 PhD Student, Department of Isotope Biogeochemistry
2008-2010 M.Sc. in Biology (Microbiology); Northern Arizona University, USA
2006-2008 B.Sc. in Microbiology (Applied Environmental Microbiology); Northern Arizona University, USA

Research

As a fellow in the Marie Curie ITN, CSI:ENVIRONMENT project, I will investigate the variability of isotope fractionation during microbial degradation of halogenated organics, including chloro- and bromo-ethenes, ethanes, and benzenes. My research goals include: obtaining an understanding of how biotic degradation reactions cause isotope fractionation by molecular modeling of degradation reactions; determining the novel forensic isotope fingerprints of pollutants as produced by various manufacturers; determining fractionation factors (α D, C, Cl, and Br) during reductive dehalogenation and oxidation of chloro- and bromo-ethenes by designing reference fractionation experiments with microorganisms, cell suspensions, and enzymes under controlled conditions; developing microcosms from groundwater samples obtained from Bitterfeld and sediment samples obtained from Neuruppin to assess the variability of isotope fractionation during microbial degradation of brominated vs. chlorinated compounds; optimizing extraction, isolation and analysis procedures for chemicals in groundwater and sediment in preparation for isotope analysis; and developing multi-dimensional isotope models (D, 13C, Cl) to characterize degradation pathways and quantify degradation.


Publications