Dr. Nate Basiliko Explores Unseen Universes
Tiny Soil Microbes are Superheroes that Can Help Save the Planet
"In a small handful of healthy soil, there are billions of microorganisms—like bacteria and fungi—that's amazing!" says Lakehead Biology Professor, Dr. Nate Basiliko.
A love of soil began very early in life for Dr. Basiliko (right). He grew up on a 100-acre family farm in upstate New York. "There was a woodlot on our farm, and my brother and I occasionally tapped trees for maple syrup."
These microorganisms, also called microbes, can do everything from cleaning contaminated water to reducing the severity of wildfires.
Dr. Basiliko has been studying microbes since he was an undergraduate student working in a soil science laboratory at Cornell University.
"I started putting mud into jars and measuring what the microbes were doing, and I've never looked back," he says.
These microbes live in hyper-diverse communities called microbiomes.
"Microbiomes are everywhere—in soils, plants, wastewater, and in our bodies, particularly our lower guts. All living things are dependent on microbiomes."
Although soil science has been around for more than 100 years, a vast amount remains unknown.
"The tools to study soil microbiomes are still limited, but this makes it exciting for students and researchers."
Dr. Basiliko typically studies soils and ecosystems in managed boreal environments in Canada, but occasionally he collaborates with researchers in other parts of the world. Above, he tours the Antisano Volcano in Ecuador.
Munching Microbes Can Get a Little Gassy
Dr. Basiliko is particularly interested in the connection between microbes and methane, a greenhouse gas.
Researchers collect a core sample from a peat bog (left). "I love collaborating with students, colleagues, and communities, government, and industry partners," Dr. Basiliko says. Photo Credit: Steph Davidson
"Some microbes eat and break down stagnant organic matter, so scientists are constantly looking for new ways to use them in human-engineered systems like wastewater management and agro-ecosystems," he says.
There's a downside to all this decay, though. "Rotting organic matter without oxygen generates huge amounts of methane, which contributes to global warming."
Luckily, there are methane-eating microbes, called methanotrophs, that consume most of the methane produced in the world's stagnant soils.
Part of Dr. Basiliko's research concentrates on slowing climate change by harnessing these microbes' ability to destroy methane.
In landfills, for instance, putting a layer of healthy, well-aerated topsoil over areas that have been filled with waste prevents most of the methane from escaping into the atmosphere.
Bogs Have Ecological Superpowers
Sundew (right) and pitcher plants are two carnivorous plants found in nutrient-poor bogs. In Ontario, 30 per cent of the province are wetlands, making them critical to fighting climate change. Photo Credit: Samantha Mitchell
Currently, Dr. Basiliko is a member of a large research project led by Nipissing University focused on reclaiming wetlands affected by mining operations.
"We're studying wetlands, also known as bogs and fens, in the Sudbury area of Ontario," he says.
"Until the 1970s, nickel and copper smelters released toxic chemicals into the air, causing severe environmental damage."
Typically, bogs act as spongy filters. Their native plants and microbial partners work together to purify polluted water before it flows into lakes and rivers.
Around Sudbury, however, the sheer volume of pollutants released into the atmosphere for almost a century has damaged many wetlands.
A Bold Experiment to Regenerate Crucial Ecosystems
One group of plants that disappeared from bogs was peat mosses.
These plants are keystone species that support carbon sequestration, stable water levels, and a unique set of microbiomes, animals, and other plants—including carnivorous ones.
When they disappear, wetland ecosystems collapse.
For decades, the state of Sudbury-area bogs seemed irreversible. But peat mosses have begun to return, thanks to air quality regulations and large investments made by the mining sector.
The wetland research project is attempting to speed up peat mosses' recolonization of their former habitat. The hope is that if peat mosses flourish once again, microbial communities and other bog life will flourish, too.
Wetlands comprise only 2.5% of land surface area in the world, but hold one-third of its total carbon. They can also slow the spread of wildfires. Above, Dr. Basiliko (far right) with colleagues from Laurentian, Saint Mary's, Nipissing, and Brandon universities.
"Our research team is now planning the next stage of research, in collaboration with our industry partners," Dr. Basiliko says.
"We will sparingly take peat mosses from healthy wetlands that have been set aside for horticultural purposes. Then, we'll use drones to transplant them to degraded bogs and fens that could not otherwise be revegetated."
The mosses will be tracked by the researchers to see if they can successfully restore bogs.
"If this experiment works, we'd like to apply our results more globally. Creating practical solutions to serious problems is what inspires me as a researcher."
In 2025, Dr. Basiliko renewed his NSERC Discovery grant, 'Microbiomes Mediating Environmental Change Across Boreal Landscapes.' He is also one of the co-investigators in the wetland reclamation research project 'Mining atmospheric CO2: Assessing the efficacy of novel carbon sequestration strategies in smelter-damaged peatlands," which received an NSERC Alliance Missions grant. This project is led by Dr. Colin McCarter (Nipissing U) in collaboration with Dr. Ellie Goud (St. Mary's U), Dr. Pete Whittington (Brandon U), Dr. Peter Beckett (Laurentian U), and Dr. Florin Pendea (Lakehead Orillia).
