Aydin Khosrowshahi

Hi, I’m Aydin Khosrowshahi. I am a senior at the University of Kentucky, studying Natural Resources and Environmental Science, with a focus on Field and Laboratory analysis of ecosystems.

Growing up in rural Southern Kentucky, I’ve always spent time outside, and I have been curious about the workings of the natural world for my whole life. A lot of my coursework has been focused on soil science, toxicology, and hydrology. I started this degree hoping to spend time outdoors assessing natural environments, as well as spending time in a laboratory studying the patterns and rules that maintain and change them.

Before my position here, I studied harmful algal blooms in the nutrient-dense Taylorsville Lake. Actually, I took a canoe out to collect samples from the grow tanks we’d set up. Fun times. Unabsorbed fertilizers tend to runoff in the rain and be absorbed into lakes and reservoirs, altering the chemistry of the water itself. This can support large colonies of phytoplankton, which produce harmful metabolites and bring imbalance to the local ecosystem. In the interest of public health, it’s important that we understand the ways we are altering the natural world, from nutrient imbalances to antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Nowadays, I’m proud to be involved with the Kentucky Geological Survey. My research focus in the CHAOS lab is on microbial communities in under-researched cave systems, mapping and logging what metabolites they produce under ambient underground conditions. Molecules found in other organisms can be scientifically notable for a variety of reasons; they may be pharmaceutically significant, or they may alter the environment around them. I’m excited to see what I can help to uncover about the world.