WELCOME TO THE

LEHTOVIRTA-MORLEY LAB

We work on the interplay between the environment, ecology, physiology and process rates of ammonia oxidation. We focus on the molecular and physiological mechanisms that underpin the adaptation of ammonia oxidisers to their environment. We use both cultivation-independent and cultivation-dependent approaches, and much of our work focuses on our model organisms Nitrosocosmicus and Nitrosotalea, which are terrestrial ammonia oxidising archaea.

LAURA LEHTOVIRTA-MORLEY

I am an Associate Professor and have been at the University of East Anglia since 2017. Prior to starting my independent research group, I was a PhD student and a postdoc at the University of Aberdeen and also spent some time working at the Oregon State University and the University of Alberta. My proudest career moment is getting my work into Brock’s Biology of Microorganisms. I used to read this book a lot as a microbiology undergrad so it felt like a big milestone contributing to it.

I had a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship from 2016 until 2024. I was awarded an ERC Starting Grant in 2019 to work on ammonia oxidation. I am the ISME Junior Ambassador for the UK. I will be taking up a professorial position at the University of Warwick in September 2025.