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Biwen

Biwen An-Stepec

Senior Researcher

bian@norceresearch.no
+47 56 10 71 05
Nygårdsgaten 112, 5008 Bergen, Norway

Dr. Biwen (Annie) An Stepec (formerly An) received her Ph.D. in Environmental Microbiology from the University of Calgary in 2014. Her dissertation focused on the role of microorganisms in the oil and gas reservoirs at extreme conditions.

From 2017-2022, she joined the Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) as a postdoctoral researcher, where her research focused on microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) with the aim to increase interdisciplinary relevance between microbiology, materials science and chemistry.

Besides research, Annie has lectured at the Humboldt University of Berlin on the topic of ‘electroactive’ microorganisms and their role within our society. She is currently leading the Working Group 2 of the Cost-Action Euro-MIC (www.Euro-MIC.org). She is also part of the organizing committee for ‘Living on Hydrogen’ (together with Dr. Nicole Dopffel) and the International Symposium on Applied Microbiology and Molecular Biology in Oil Systems-ISMOS. In March 2023, she was elected as the Roadmap Leader for Hydrogen Europe & Hydrogen Europe Research RM04-Hydrogen Storage.

Since 2023, she works as a senior researcher in the Norwegian research institute NORCE in Bergen, Norway, and her current research topics includes:

  • Microbial processes and risks during hydrogen underground storage
  • Microbiologically influenced corrosion & related corrosion monitoring and testing
  • Microbial processes in soil, water and the subsurface
  • Microbial processes in extreme environments, particularly high salinity conditions

Projects

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Publications
Future Perspectives - where do we go from here? – 2024
Impact of microbial biofilms on subsurface energy systems – from oil and gas to renewable energy – 2024
Petroleum Microbiology The Role of Microorganisms in the Transition to Net Zero Energy – CRC Press 2024
Microbiologically influenced corrosion-more than just microorganisms – FEMS Microbiology Reviews 2023
Microbial hydrogen consumption leads to a significant pH increase under high-saline-conditions: implications for hydrogen storage in salt caverns – Scientific Reports 2023
Water-fueled autocatalytic bactericidal pathway based on e-Fenton-like reactions triggered by galvanic corrosion and extracellular electron transfer – Journal of Hazardous Materials 2022
Beyond corrosion: development of a single cell-ICP-ToF-MS method to uncover the process of microbiologically influenced corrosion – Metallomics 2022
The differences in the corrosion product compositions of Methanogen-induced microbiologically influenced corrosion (Mi-MIC) between static and dynamic growth conditions – Corrosion Science 2021
Iron to Gas: Versatile Multiport Flow-Column Revealed Extremely High Corrosion Potential by Methanogen-Induced Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion (Mi-MIC) – Frontiers in Microbiology 2020
Halophilic Methylotrophic Methanogens May Contribute to the High Ammonium Concentrations Found in Shale Oil and Shale Gas Reservoirs – Frontiers in Energy Research 2019
Control of Sulfide Production in High Salinity Bakken Shale Oil Reservoirs by Halophilic Bacteria Reducing Nitrate to Nitrite – Frontiers in Microbiology 2017
Metagenomic Analysis Indicates Epsilonproteobacteria as a Potential Cause of Microbial Corrosion in Pipelines Injected with Bisulfite – Frontiers in Microbiology 2016
Advances in Tools to Monitor Souring and Corrosion in Oil and Gas Fields – 2013
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