In Denmark, peatland areas are being restored as part of the green transition. The challenge is ensuring that restored peatlands quickly stop releasing greenhouse gases.

Caitlin Singleton, an assistant professor of environmental microbiology at Aalborg University, is part of the AAU Excellence talent programme for promising early-career researchers.
 
Her passion for the environment led her to study permafrost peatlands in Sweden during her PhD. When the permafrost thaws, the microbes eat all the food that is suddenly available. Unfortunately, it releases methane as they eat the carbon that was once frozen. Similar processes occur in Danish peatlands where draining for agriculture introduces oxygen, allowing microbes to consume the stored carbon.
 
¡°My focus is on microorganisms in peatland restoration and linking them to successful outcomes. I hope my research will significantly reduce the human footprint on the environment,¡± she explains.
 
Peatlands are crucial carbon stores, but restoration can also lead to the production of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Caitlin studies both methane-producing and methane-consuming organisms to ensure restoration has the desired climate benefits.
 
¡°Being selected for the AAU Excellence Programme is a nice opportunity for me to meet young researchers from other AAU departments who are at the same career stage as me. The programme offers an open place with open-minded people; together, we form an important network¡±, Caitlin concludes.
 
Caitlin is currently a tenure track Assistant Professor in the Environmental Microbiology Section at the Department of Chemistry and Bioscience. She did her PhD at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.