Alessandro Garritano is a PhD Candidate working with Prof. Torsten Thomas at the University of New South Wales, in Australia. His project combines -omics techniques with bacterial metabolism, and he is particularly interested in carbon fixation and hydrocarbon degradation. The goal of the project is to unravel biochemical processes occurring in microorganisms present in the deep sea and how they support and promote the growth of coral reefs and sponge gardens. These reefs and gardens represent long-term carbon sinks in the deep ocean and there is an opportunity to promote their carbon sequestration by understanding the fundamental process that underpin these ecosystems. Alessandro Garritano Alessandro Garritano alegarritano