
Rizlan Bernier-Latmani
EPFL ENAC IIE EML
CH A1 375 (Bâtiment CH)
Station 6
1015 Lausanne
+41 21 693 50 01
Office: CH A1 375
EPFL › ENAC › IIE › EML
Website: https://eml.epfl.ch/
+41 21 693 50 01
EPFL › VPA › VPA-FAC › CEAE
Expertise
Environmental Microbiology
Bioremediation
Geochemistry
Uranium biogeochemistry and isotope geochemistry
Iron geomicrobiology
Gram-positive bacteria
Deep subsurface microbes
Nuclear waste
Mission
Current Work
Summer course: Advances in Genome Technology and Bioinformatics Course at the Marine Biology Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA. October 2005.
Ph.D. 2001 Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, CA (Advisor, Jim Leckie, "Biodegradation of uranyl (UO22+)-complexed citrate and implications for uranyl mobility in the subsurface")
M.S. 1995 Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, CA
B.S. 1993 Natural Resources with Honors, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYMENT
2022- present Full professor, School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne
2013-2022 Associate professor with tenure, School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne
2005-2013 Assistant professor tenure track, School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne
2001-2005 Post-Graduate Researcher, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA (PI: Brad Tebo)
1995-2001 Graduate Research Assistant, Stanford University (Advisor: Jim Leckie)
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Gemicrobiology, metal-bacteria interactions, biological reduction and oxidation of metals, biological nanoparticle formation; Characterization of microbial communities in terrestrial environments; Using genomic, microscopic and spectroscopic tools to understand metal transformations by microorganisms.
ACADEMIC HONORS
Rotary Foundation University Professor grant, 2004.
Swiss National Science Foundation Post-doctoral Fellowship, 2001.
Leon B. Reynolds Memorial Scholarship in the School of Engineering at Stanford University, 1995-96.
Graduated with Honors from Cornell University, 1993.
BIBLIOMETRY
http://www.researcherid.com/rid/E-4398-2011 ResearcherID: E-4398-2011
2025
Journal Articles
[1] Evaluating nitrate removal and travel times in a bare deciduous forest soil through a column tracer experiment
Catena. 2025. DOI : 10.1016/j.catena.2025.109204.[2] High-throughput cultivation and isolation of environmental anaerobes using selectively permeable hydrogel capsules
ISME Communications. 2025. DOI : 10.1093/ismeco/ycaf117.[3] Biosensor-aided isolation of anaerobic arsenic-methylating bacteria from soil
ISME Communications. 2025. DOI : 10.1093/ismeco/ycaf081.[4] Bile acid 7α-dehydroxylating bacteria accelerate injury-induced mucosal healing in the colon
EMBO MOLECULAR MEDICINE. 2025. DOI : 10.1038/s44321-025-00202-w.[5] Speciation-dependent molecular mechanism of electron transfer from the c-type cytochrome MtrC to U(VI)-ligand complexes
Geo-Bio Interfaces. 2025. DOI : https://doi.org/10.1180/gbi.2024.10.Theses
[6] High-throughput isolation of anaerobic arsenic-transforming microorganisms
Lausanne, EPFL, 2025. DOI : 10.5075/epfl-thesis-11293.Datasets
[7] Supplementary movies to 'High-throughput isolation of anaerobic arsenic-transforming microorganisms' (PhD thesis by Hugo Sallet, EPFL, 2025)
2025.2024
Journal Articles
[8] Growth substrate limitation enhances anaerobic arsenic methylation by <i>Paraclostridium bifermentans</i> strain EML
Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 2024. DOI : 10.1128/aem.00961-24.[9] Strain-dependent induction of primary bile acid 7-dehydroxylation by cholic acid
BMC Microbiology. 2024. DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s12866-024-03433-y.[10] WP15 ConCorD state-of-the-art report (container corrosion under disposal conditions)
Frontiers in Nuclear Engineering. 2024. DOI : 10.3389/fnuen.2024.1404739.[11] The isotopic signature of U(V) during bacterial reduction
Geochemical Perspectives Letters. 2024. DOI : 10.7185/geochemlet.2411.[12] BaiJ and BaiB are key enzymes in the chenodeoxycholic acid 7a-dehydroxylation pathway in the gut microbe Clostridium scindens ATCC 35704
Gut Microbes. 2024. DOI : 10.1080/19490976.2024.2323233.[13] Reducing conditions influence U(IV) accumulation in sediments during in-situ bioremediation
ACS Earth and Space Chemistry. 2024. DOI : 10.1021/acsearthspacechem.3c00271.[14] Pentavalent U reactivity impacts U isotopic fractionation during reduction by magnetite
Environmental Science & Technology. 2024.[15] Microbial hydrogen sinks in the sand-bentonite backfill material for the deep geological disposal of radioactive waste
Frontiers in Microbiology. 2024. DOI : 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1359677.Theses
[16] Investigation of microbial community dynamics in soil during variable hydrological forcing
Lausanne, EPFL, 2024. DOI : 10.5075/epfl-thesis-10790.Posters
[17] UrbanTwin: An urban digital twin for climate action
EcoCloud Annual Event on IT Sustainability 2024, Lausanne, Switzerland, 2024-10-08.2023
Journal Articles
[18] Anaerobic arsenic methylation as a microbial warfare strategy
BioRxiv. 2023. DOI : 10.1101/2023.01.09.523296.[19] Spatially Explicit Linkages Between Redox Potential Cycles and Soil Moisture Fluctuations
Water Resources Research. 2023. DOI : 10.1029/2022WR032328.[20] Mechanism of Reduction of Aqueous U(V)-dpaea and Solid-Phase U(VI)-dpaea Complexes: The Role of Multiheme c-Type Cytochromes
Environmental Science & Technology. 2023. DOI : 10.1021/acs.est.3c00666.PhD Students
Camille Aude Rolland, Juan Pablo Marin Jaramillo, Katharina Reinhold, Jacopo Carbone, Myriam Abdelouhabi
Past EPFL PhD Students
Niels Burzan, Harish Veeramani, Alexandre Bagnoud, Solenne Anne Marie Marion, Elena Cristina Dalla Vecchia, Jan Dobias, Luca Loreggian, Cornelia List, Hugo Sallet, Karen Elda Viacava Romo, Simiao Wang, Margaux Camille Andréa Molinas, Malgorzata Alicja Stylo
Courses
This course covers the essential knowledge of contaminant partitioning and techniques to monitor chemical species, physical extent of contamination and biological processes. In the second part, remediation approaches are tackled. This course represents the fundamentals of remediation.