Profile

Dr Carmen Falagan-Rodriguez

Research Fellow

C.Falagan@exeter.ac.uk

Environment and Sustainability Institute 02.03

Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9FE, UK

Overview

I am honorary research fellow at CSM by my main job is at the University of Portsmouth as a Lecturer in Environmntal Microbioloy. At the CSM and the ESI, I collaborate in a project to develop new ways to valorise sulfidic tailings. The goal of the project is to develope and test innovative bio-leaching processes using acidophilic microorganisms under the project NEMO.

My research interests are in extreme environments, working with microorganisms and their use on biotechnological applications such as biomining, and bioremediation. I am also interested in studying the stability and securing mines and mine wastes and the exploration of new strategies to recover valuable metals from wastes.

Qualifications

PhD Microbiology of acidic mine pit lakes of the Iberian Pyrite Belt (University of the Basque Country and Geological Survey of Spain, Spain)
MSc Oceanography (University of Cadiz, Spain)
BSc in Conservation Biology (University of Alcala de Henares, Spain)

Research

Research interests

Extreme environments: acidic pit lakes, acid mine drainages, hydrothermal vents, volcanic lakes.
Micobial ecology.
Resource recovery from waste.
Bioleaching and biohydrometallurgy.
Climate change and mining.
Extremophiles.
Bioremediation.

Research projects

NEMO: Near-zero-waste recycling of low-grade sulphidic mining waste for critical-metal, mineral and construction raw-material production in a circular economy. Grant agreement No 776846.

M3BioMinAnox: Metal-microbe-mineral interactions and biomineralization mechanisms in acidophilic anaerobes: Geochemical, microbiological and biotechnological implications. Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness project.

Publications

Journal articles

Newsome L, Falagan C (In Press). The microbiology of metal mine waste: bioremediation applications and implications for planetary health. GeoHealth

Falagán C, Dew DW, Hudson-Edwards KA (2024). Effect of nutrient concentration, dissolved salts, and mineralogy at high temperature column bioleaching of a pyrrhotite-pyrite secondary ore. Minerals Engineering, 209

Falagán C, Sbaffi T, Williams GB, Bargiela R, Dew DW, Hudson-Edwards KA (2024). Nutrient optimization in bioleaching: are we overdosing?. Frontiers in Microbiology, 15 Abstract.

Hubau A, Pino-Herrera DO, Falagán C, Hudson-Edwards KA, Joulian C, Guezennec A-G (2023). Influence of the Nutrient Medium Composition During the Bioleaching of Polymetallic Sulfidic Mining Residues. Waste and Biomass Valorization, 15(2), 561-575.

Ayala-Muñoz D, Macalady JL, Sánchez-España J, Falagán C, Couradeau E, Burgos WD (2022). Microbial carbon, sulfur, iron, and nitrogen cycling linked to the potential remediation of a meromictic acidic pit lake. The ISME journal, 16(12), 2666-2679. Abstract.

Ayala-Muñoz D, Burgos WD, Sánchez-España J, Falagán C, Couradeau E, Macalady JL (2022). Novel Microorganisms Contribute to Biosulfidogenesis in the Deep Layer of an Acidic Pit Lake. Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology, 10 Abstract.

Norris PR, Falagán C, Moya-Beltrán A, Castro M, Quatrini R, Johnson DB (2020). Acidithiobacillus ferrianus sp. nov.: an ancestral extremely acidophilic and facultatively anaerobic chemolithoautotroph. Extremophiles, 24(2), 329-337. Abstract. Author URL.

Sánchez-España J, Falagán C, Ayala D, Wendt-Potthoff K (2020). Adaptation of Coccomyxa sp. to Extremely Low Light Conditions Causes Deep Chlorophyll and Oxygen Maxima in Acidic Pit Lakes. Microorganisms, 8(8), 1218-1218. Abstract.

Hubau A, Guezennec A-G, Joulian C, Falagán C, Dew D, Hudson-Edwards KA (2020). Bioleaching to reprocess sulfidic polymetallic primary mining residues: Determination of metal leaching mechanisms. Hydrometallurgy, 197, 105484-105484.

Ayala-Muñoz D, Burgos WD, Sánchez-España J, Couradeau E, Falagán C, Macalady JL (2020). Metagenomic and Metatranscriptomic Study of Microbial Metal Resistance in an Acidic Pit Lake. Microorganisms, 8(9), 1350-1350. Abstract.

Falagán C, Moya-Beltrán A, Castro M, Quatrini R, Johnson DB (2019). Acidithiobacillus sulfuriphilus sp. nov.: an extremely acidophilic sulfur-oxidizing chemolithotroph isolated from a neutral pH environment. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol, 69(9), 2907-2913. Abstract. Author URL.

Diez-Ercilla M, Falagán C, Yusta I, Sánchez-España J (2019). Metal mobility and mineral transformations driven by bacterial activity in acidic pit lake sediments: evidence from column experiments and sequential extraction. Journal of Soils and Sediments, 19(3), 1527-1542. Abstract.

Sánchez-España J, Wang K, Falagán C, Yusta I, Burgos WD (2018). Microbially mediated aluminosilicate formation in acidic anaerobic environments: a cell-scale chemical perspective. Geobiology, 16(1), 88-103. Abstract. Author URL.

Falagán C, Johnson DB (2018). The significance of pH in dictating the relative toxicities of chloride and copper to acidophilic bacteria. Res Microbiol, 169(10), 552-557. Abstract. Author URL.

Falagán C, Foesel B, Johnson B (2017). Acidicapsa ferrireducens sp. nov. Acidicapsa acidiphila sp. nov. and Granulicella acidiphila sp. nov.: novel acidobacteria isolated from metal-rich acidic waters. Extremophiles, 21(3), 459-469. Abstract. Author URL.

Falagán C, Yusta I, Sánchez-España J, Johnson DB (2017). Biologically-induced precipitation of aluminium in synthetic acid mine water. Minerals Engineering, 106, 79-85. Abstract.

Falagán C, Grail BM, Johnson DB (2017). New approaches for extracting and recovering metals from mine tailings. Minerals Engineering, 106, 71-78. Abstract.

Falagán C, Johnson DB (2016). Acidithiobacillus ferriphilus sp. nov. a facultatively anaerobic iron- and sulfur-metabolizing extreme acidophile. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol, 66(1), 206-211. Abstract. Author URL.

Falagán C, Johnson DB (2014). Acidibacter ferrireducens gen. nov. sp. nov.: an acidophilic ferric iron-reducing gammaproteobacterium. Extremophiles, 18(6), 1067-1073. Abstract. Author URL.

Falagán C, Sánchez-España J, Johnson DB (2014). New insights into the biogeochemistry of extremely acidic environments revealed by a combined cultivation-based and culture-independent study of two stratified pit lakes. FEMS Microbiol Ecol, 87(1), 231-243. Abstract. Author URL.

Jeschke C, Falagán C, Knöller K, Schultze M, Koschorreck M (2013). No nitrification in lakes below pH 3. Environ Sci Technol, 47(24), 14018-14023. Abstract. Author URL.

Conferences

Johnson B, Santos AL, Falagan C, Jones RM, Grail BM, Holanda R, Hedrich S (2016). Developing Sustainable Biotechnologies for Mine Water Treatment in the 21<SUP>ST</SUP> Century. Author URL.

Falagan C, Smail I, Grail BM, Johnson DB (2016). Microbial communities in passive remediation systems at three abandoned coal mine sites in the United Kingdom. Author URL.

Falagan C, Sanchez-Espana J, Yusta I, Johnson DB (2016). New insights into the microbiology of meromictic acidic pit lakes in the Iberian Pyrite Belt (Spain). Author URL.

Falagán C, Sánchez-España FJ, Johnson BD (2013). Microbiological communities in two acidic mine pit lakes in the Iberian pyrite belt (IPB), Spain. Abstract.

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