I am intrigued by the transformation of important but ‘unconventional’ carbon substrates such as plastic, methane, and oil and their fate in aquatic (microbial) food web structures. My research particularly focuses on microbial kinetics and spatiotemporal aspects of aquatic carbon cycling and environmental forcing factors determining the turnover of these unconventional carbon substrates in the water column and in sediments. In addition, I am also interested in lipid biomarkers as chemotaxonomic markers and proxy indicators recording (paleo) environmental conditions.