1. Biogeochemical cycling, the role of organisms in formation of organic matter and cycling of inorganic nutrients.

2. Microbial evolution and systematics

3. Diversity of microorganisms that catabolize organic compounds.

4. Xenobiotics vs natural compounds, anorganic versus organic compounds

5. Metabolic logic and pathway maps

6. Evolution of biodegradative enzymes/biocatalytic pathways

7. Predicting microbial biocatalysis and biodegradation, effect of chemical structure and natural conditions

8. Bacterial degradation of xenobiotics (aerobic, anaerobic)

9. Fungi and their impact in environmental biotechnology

10. Biological mechanisms for heavy metal removal from the environment

11. Plant Biotechnology for environmental preservation

12. Molecular techniques in environmental biotechnology, molecular ecology, metagenomics