

Andrea G. Bravo
Mercury is a global pollutant that might damage the central nervous system of severely exposed humans. Although all forms of mercury are toxic, the organic form, methylmercury, is of special concern because it accumulates and biomagnifies in aquatic food webs. In order to draw effective management strategies to reduce human exposure to mercury, I am interested in elucidating all possible sources of methylmercury for aquatic ecosystems, including internal processes. In particular, my research focuses on the identification and description of the main biological and chemical factors driving the formation and biomagnification of methylmercury.
I obtained my PhD in Environmental Sciences in Switzerland (Geneva University, 2010), where I revealed the impact of chlor-alkali and sewage treatment plants on mercury pollution. Afterwards, I obtained a project by the Swedish Research Council to move to Sweden and work as a post-doc (Uppsala University, 2012-2014). My postdoc positions in Sweden included 3 additional years at Uppsala University (2014-2016), funded by the international SMaRef Project where I acted as a Work Package leader, and 4 months at Umeå University (2017). During these 5 years I studied the effect of organic matter molecular composition in methylmercury formation and bacterial activity. I also unveiled the composition of mercury methylating microbial communities. An evidence of the relevance of the studies I performed in Sweden is that I am the 2019 Raymond L. Lindeman awardee from the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography – ASLO (this award recognises an outstanding publication by a young scientist). In 2017, I obtained a Beatriu de Pinós post-doc grant from the Generalitat de Catalunya to move to the IDAEA-CSIC in Barcelona to study the key organic molecules driving methylmercury formation. I ceased this postdoc when I obtained a highly-competitive Marie Curie Fellowship from the European Commission, to work on mercury cycling in the ocean at the Institute of Marine Sciences ICM-CSIC (2018-2020).
During all these years, I have used innovative approaches in my research, including isotopic techniques, deep characterization of organic matter, iron and sulfur speciation, and genomics and I have encompassed a wide range of environments, from soils, boreal mires and oligotrophic lakes, to eutrophic reservoirs, rivers and, ponds and, more recently, the global ocean to provide mechanistic understanding of the processes controlling mercury cycling.
FEATURED PUBLICATIONS
Mercury methylating microbial communities of boreal forest soils (2019)
J. Xu, Moritz Buck, K. Eklof; O. Ahmed; J. K Schaefer; K. Bishop; E. Bjorn; S. Bertilsson; A. G. Bravo.
Scientific Reports volume 9, Article number: 518. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-37383-z
A.G. Bravo, S. Peura, M. Buck, O. Ahmed, A. Mateos-Rivera, S. Herrero Ortega, J. K Schaefer, S. Bouchet, J. Tolu, E. Björn, S. Bertilsson
Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 84 (23). DOI: 10.1128/AEM.01774-18
A. G. Bravo, D. N. Kothawala, K. Attermeyer, E. Tessier, P. Bodmer et al.
Water Research 144, 172–182. DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2018.06.064
A. G. Bravo, J. Zopfi, S. Bertilsson, J. Xu, M. Buck, J. Pote, C. Cosio
The ISME journal 12:802–812. DOI: 10.1038/s41396-017-0007-7
High methylmercuryformation in ponds fueled by fresh humic and algal derived organic matter (2018)
S. Herrero, N. Catalán, H. Gröntoft, T. G Hilmarsson, S Bertilsson, P. Wu, K. Bishop, O. Levanoni, E. Björn, A. G. Bravo
Limnology & Oceanography 63, 44-53. DOI: 10.1002/lno.10722
Molecular composition of organic matter controls methylmercury formation in lakes (2017)
A. G. Bravo, S. Bouchet, J. Tolu, E. Björn, A. Mateos-Rivera, S. Bertilsson
Nature Communications 8, 14255. DOI: 10.1038/ncomms14255
Role of settling particles on mercury methylation in the oxic water column of freshwater systems (2016)
E. Gascón Díez, J-L. Loizeau, C. Cosio, S. Bouchet, T. Adatte, D. Amouroux, A. G. Bravo
Environmental Science & Technology 50 (21), 11672-11679. DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b03260
A. G. Bravo, S. Bouchet, S. Guédron D. Amouroux, J. Dominik, J. Zopfi
Water Research 80, 245–255. DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2015.04.039
A. G. Bravo, C. Cosio, P-A. Chevalley, J. Zopfi, D. Amouroux, J. Spangenberg, V-G. Ungureanu, J. Dominik
Water Research 49 (1) 391-405. DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2013.10.024
PROJECTS
Funding entity: MARIE SKŁODOWSKA-CURIE ACTIONS (Call: H2020-MSCA-IF-2016) Start: 01/09/2018 End: 30/08/2020
Funding entity: Agency for Management of University and Research Grants of the Generalitat de Catalunya (Beatriu de Pinós).
Start: 01/07/2017 End: 30/08/2018
Understanding mercury transformations in aquatic systems through metagenomics approaches
Funding entity: The Foundation Olsson-Borg Start: 01/01/2016 End: 31/12/2016
Understanding mercury transformations in aquatic systems through metagenomics approaches
Funding entity: The Foundation Olsson-Borg Start: 01/01/2014 End: 31/12/2014
The influence of stump harvest on the creation of hot-spots for mercury methylation
Funding entity: Swedish Energy Center, Energimyndigheten
Start: 01/01/2013 End: 30/06/2015
Impact of microbial community structure on mercury methylation
Funding entity: Swedish Research Council
Start: 14/03/2012 End: 13/03/2014
Mercury methylation and biomagnification in a reservoir contaminated by a chlor-alkali plant
Funding entity: the Ernst and Lucie Schmidheiny Foundation
Start: 01/06/2009 End: 30/08/2009
PhD & MASTER THESIS SUPERVISED
Role of peatlands on mercury cycling (on going PhD)
Author: Baolin Wang
Supervisors: Andrea G. Bravo ,Matts B. Nilsson, Staffan Åkerblom, Stefan Bertilsson, Guangle Qiu, Kevin Bishop
Institution: Uppsala University
Year: 2020 (Date of reading)
Potential microbial detoxifiers of methylmercury in Barcelona city continental shelf (MsC Thesis)
Author: Marina Pérez García
Supervisors: Silvia Acinas and Andrea G. Bravo
Institution: Universidad del Barcelona
Year: 2018
Author: Jingying Xu
Supervisors: Stefan Bertilsson and Andrea G. Bravo
Institution: Universidad del Pais Vasco
Year: 2018
Photodegradation of methylmercury in boreal lakes (MsC Thesis)
Author: Torfi Geir Hilmarsson
Supervisor: Andrea G. Bravo
Institution: Uppsala University
Year: 2016
Fresh organic matter drives mercury methylation (MsC Thesis)
Author: Hannes Grontoft
Supervisor: Andrea G. Bravo
Institution:Uppsala University
Year: 2015
Mercury methylation in beaver ponds (MsC Thesis)
Author: Sonia Herrero Ortega
Supervisor: Andrea G. Bravo
Institution: Uppsala University
Year: 2015
Impact of molybdate on microbial community structure (MsC Thesis)
Author: Alejandro Mateos Rivera
Supervisor: Andrea G. Bravo
Institution: Uppsala University
Year: 2013