MIT EAPS Directory

Bio

Rui Zhao is a self-described microbiologist and biogeochemist. He joined the lab of Dr. Andrew Babbin (bablab) as a Molina Postdoctoral Fellow in August 2021. Driven by his long-term interests in the marine nitrogen cycle, he performed his Ph.D. project about microbial nitrogen cycling in the marine deep biosphere at the Centre for Deep Sea research in the University of Bergen, Norway. He proceeded to work as a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Prof. Jennifer Biddle at the University of Delaware. There he applied metagenome and metatranscriptome sequencing approaches to decipher the metabolic functions and interspecies interactions of the mostly-uncultured microbes in marine sediments. Within the bablab, his major research focus is using lab enrichments (and hopefully isolates) to validate genomic predictions of several novel microbes and assess their contributions to the nitrogen loss in the marine ecosystem.

During his spare time, he likes playing with his two daughters, watching movies, hiking, and playing basketball.