Dr Dimitar Epihov

2024-2027 – Early Career Fellow in Nature-based Climate Solutions funded by the School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield.

2024-2027 – Co-Investigator in CTRF-funded project on developing and trialling a novel Chelator-based Biotechnology for Improved Carbon Capture through Enhanced weathering (£580k).

2019-2024 – Post-doctoral research associate, Leverhulme Centre for Climate Change Mitigation (LC3M), University of Sheffield.

2014-2018 – PhD in Environmental Microbiology of Rock weathering, University of Sheffield.

2011-2014 – BSc Plant Science (First class), University of Edinburgh.

Dimitar’s research interests are in the fields of Microbial Ecology, Bioinformatics and Biogeochemistry. Special interests include:

• The role of iron and sulfur cycling to soil organic carbon storage and carbon capture through enhanced rock weathering.
• Use of bacteria and their products for biotechnological acceleration of carbon capture.
• The genomics and transcriptomic mining of basalt-colonising bacteria in soil including heterotrophic and lithoautotrophic groups.

Some of his contributions include:

• Development of novel techniques for measuring weathering in soils through Magnetic separation and sequential Phosphoric acid digest and ICP-OES (MagPI).

• Development of synthetic chelator formulations for modulating the soil native microbiome towards accelerated rock weathering.

• Unearthing a distinct and functionally important community of microorganisms specifically colonising basalt grains weathered in soil generating energy and organics through oxidation of basalt-derived sulfur and hydrogen.

• The discovery that N₂-fixing legume trees interact with their microbiomes to drive greater weathering rates and targeted nutrient extraction (P, K, Mo) in both Neotropical and Australasian forest systems helping forest recovery and re-growth.

PhD students

Derek Bell – PhD project title: “Activators of microbial enzymes for enhanced C capture and decreased pathogen populations in arable soils.”.

Issi Steeley –  PhD project title: “Is enhanced rock weathering part of the solution to net zero cocoa farming?”.

Selected publications

Epihov, D.Z., Banwart, S.A., McGrath, S.P., Martin, D.P., Steeley, I.L., Cobbold, V., Kantola, I.B., Masters, M.D., DeLucia, E.H. and Beerling, D.J., (2024). Iron Chelation in Soil: Scalable Biotechnology for Accelerating Carbon Dioxide Removal by Enhanced Rock Weathering. Environmental Science & Technology, 58(27), pp.11970-11987.

Epihov, D.Z., Saltonstall, K., Batterman, S.A., Hedin, L.O., Hall, J.S., van Breugel, M., Leake, J.R. and Beerling, D.J., (2021). Legume–microbiome interactions unlock mineral nutrients in regrowing tropical forests. PNAS, 118(11), p.e2022241118.

Beerling, D.J., Epihov, D.Z., Kantola, I.B., Masters, M.D., Reershemius, T., Planavsky, N.J., Reinhard, C.T., Jordan, J.S., Thorne, S.J., Weber, J. and Val Martin, M., 2024. Enhanced weathering in the US Corn Belt delivers carbon removal with agronomic benefits. PNAS, 121(9), p.e2319436121.

Kantola, I.B., Blanc‐Betes, E., Masters, M.D., Chang, E., Marklein, A., Moore, C.E., von Haden, A., Bernacchi, C.J., Wolf, A., Epihov, D.Z. and Beerling, D.J., 2023. Improved net carbon budgets in the US Midwest through direct measured impacts of enhanced weathering. Global Change Biology, 29(24), pp.7012-7028.

Reershemius, T., Kelland, M.E., Jordan, J.S., Davis, I.R., D’Ascanio, R., Kalderon-Asael, B., Asael, D., Suhrhoff, T.J., Epihov, D.Z., Beerling, D.J. and Reinhard, C.T., 2023. Initial validation of a soil-based mass-balance approach for empirical monitoring of enhanced rock weathering rates. Environmental Science & Technology, 57(48), pp.19497-19507.