Laura Hug
Biography
Research in the Hug lab seeks to define microbial diversity and function at contaminated sites (primarily municipal landfills). To that end, our lab sequences the total DNA, RNA, and protein (meta-omics) of a microbial community from a contaminated site to identify which species are there, and which pathways are active. We use enrichment culturing to explore microbial community interactions and to develop new bioremediation tools. The combination of genome-enabled metabolic modelling with tracking contaminant degradation in the laboratory clarifies how microbes are shaping the environment.
Beyond developing tools for environment remediation, the Hug lab examines essential questions in biology – how do organisms adapt to the harsh conditions at contaminated sites? How and when did the ability to degrade a man-made product evolve? In what ways are microbial communities more than the sum of their parts, and do these interactions drive global cycles?
Her research expands our understanding of the tree of life, while simultaneously developing solutions to address the impacts of human activities on the environment.
Research Interests
Microbial diversity and function
Contaminated site microbial ecology
Total community (meta-omic) analyses, including metagenomics (DNA), metatranscriptomics (RNA), and proteomics (proteins)
Bioremediation
Contamination & Remediation: Water, Soil, Air
Bioinformatics, Systematics and Evolution
Molecular Genetics
Increasingly Complex Water Challenges
Protection of Surface and Groundwater Resources
Microbiology
Education
2012 Ph.D. Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Canada
2007 M.Sc. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalhousie University, Canada
2005 B.Sc. Molecular Biology and Genetics, University of Guelph, Canada
Awards
2019 Canada Research Chair in Environmental Microbiology
2015 Kavli Fellow, National Academy of Sciences
2013 Post-Doctoral Fellowship, NSERC
2012 Outstanding Student Poster, American Society for Microbiology General Meeting
2011 Doctoral Completion Award, University of Toronto
2010 Yoshio Masui Prize in Molecular Biology, University of Toronto
2009 Canada Graduate Scholarship D Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement, NSERC
2008 Governor General’s Gold Medal, Dalhousie University
2007 Helen Sawyer Hogg Graduate Admission Award, University of Toronto
2007 Mary H. Beatty Fellowship, University of Toronto
2007 University of Toronto Fellowship, University of Toronto
2007 Canada Graduate Scholarship D, NSERC
2005 Postgraduate Scholarship M, NSERC
2005 Honorary Pre-Doctoral Scholarship, Killam Foundation
Service
Waterloo Centre for Microbial Research (Associate Director)
Reviewer for Nature, The ISME Journal, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Environmental Microbiology, BMC Genomics, Microbiome, Bioinformatics, Environmental Science and Technology, FEMS Microbiology Ecology, Frontiers in Environmental Science, Biodegradation, and PLoS ONE (ad hoc)
Professional Associations
American Society for Microbiology
International Society for Microbial Ecology
Affiliations and Volunteer Work
Canadian Society for Microbiologists Section Chair
Waterloo Centre for Microbial Research (Associate Director)
Teaching*
- BIOL 346 - Microbial Ecology and Diversity
- Taught in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
- BIOL 645 - Recent Advances in Microbial Ecology
- Taught in 2020, 2022
* Only courses taught in the past 5 years are displayed.
Selected/Recent Publications
Please see Laura Hug’s Google Scholar profile for a current list of her peer-reviewed articles: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ua1XmyUAAAAJ&hl=en.