Dr. Lam's research interest lies in the functional roles of microorganisms in biogeochemical cycling, particularly the nitrogen and carbon cycles, in diverse marine and aquatic systems. In collaboration with researchers inside and outside the university, her work integrates state-of-the-art molecular ecological techniques, stable isotopic analyses, process rate measurements, hypothesis-driven experimentation and modelling, to disentangle complex microbial interactions and their impacts on biogeochemical environments especially in the context of global change.
Current research topics include:
Shortcuts in the nitrogen cycle – novel pathways and microbial players for nitrogen remineralisation in the ocean’s twilight zoneMicrobial carbon remineralisation pathways and fluxes in the mesopelagic oceanUsing proteomics tools to disentangle active microbial nitrogen and carbon cycling processes in oceanic oxygen minimum zonesImportance of particle-associated microeukaryotes on the efficiency of oceanic biological carbon pumpMicrobial production and consumption pathways of greenhouse gases
Enhanced rock weathering and other techniques for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
Novel isotopic signatures of biogeochemical cycling, including iron, chromium, lithium and magnesium, and the response of biogeochemcal cycles to global environmental change
Exploration for new sources of metals and elements critical for emerging green technologies, including lithium and the rare earth elements
In recent years, there have been significant developments in lightwave technologies enabling wide exploitation of optical phase, as exemplified in particular by the dawn of Coherent Optical Communications - the key enabler for the growth in the capacity of the Internet. This is due to many key breakthroughs in laser technology (low-noise low-cost and compact lasers), new revolutionary concepts that have recently been introduced (e.g., the Optical Frequency Comb, the significance of which was demonstrated by the award of a Nobel Prize in 2005), and significant advances in electronics that, thanks to the increased speeds now possible, can accommodate the processing of very complicated coherent (amplitude + phase) signals.
Another exciting field is Hollow Core Optical fibres, which guides ligth in a central hole surrounded by a microstructure that prevents light escaping from the core. Although known for over 20 years, only very recently their fabrication enabled them to use their full potential.
The natural history of asthma and allergy across the lifecourse.Identification of risk factors for asthma and allergy across the lifecourse.Development of risk prediction scores and new diagnostics for asthma.Prevention strategies for asthma and allergy.Phenotyping and endotypic understanding of difficult-to-treat asthma.Understanding the multimorbidity framework of difficult-to-treat asthma.Developing multimodal interventions for difficult-to-treat asthma.
