Biography

Megh joined the University of Newcastle in May 2015. Prior to joining the University of Newcastle, Megh worked as Professor of Environmental Biotechnology (University of South Australia), Senior/Research Scientist (CSIRO Land & Water), Postdoctoral Fellow (GBF-National Research Centre for Biotechnology, Germany; University of Liverpool, UK; Otago University, New Zealand) and Research Scientist (Council of Scientific & Industrial Research, India).

Megh is an innovative researcher with a remarkably wide and in-depth knowledge of pollutant-microbe interactions in soil and bioremediation as reflected by his publications. He is author/co-author of >500 refereed journal papers, 1 book, 21 invited book chapters, 4 patents, several conference abstracts and co-editor of four books. Most of Megh’s research has involved multidisciplinary teams for which he provided the leadership role. He has an ‘h’ index of 101 (i 10 index, 480) and total citations over 39,000 (https://scholar.google.com.au/citations?hl=en&user=edPCku8AAAAJ).

Megh played a major role in demonstrating evidence in relation to the impact of microorganisms from environmental sources have upon drugs, their precursors, and manufacturing by-products. This study identified which chemicals associated with clandestine drug laboratories persist in the environment, in order to allow forensic drug chemists to link discarded residues with the method of manufacture, and to allow the environmental impact of clandestine drug laboratories to be assessed accurately. He demonstrated the role of soil algae/cyanobacteria in degradation/detoxification of several contaminants. Soil algae form an important component of soil microflora but are generally neglected by microbiologists. Megh is one of the few scientists working in this important area of research involving soil algae. Megh and his colleagues have implemented natural attenuation at field scale as an effective remediation strategy for hydrocarbon impacted soils/groundwater sites. Also, Megh made significant contributions (microbiological expertise) to the field-scale remediation of TCE contaminated groundwater sites. Megh and colleagues have conducted research into the chemical characterisation of a new aqueous film-forming foams (AFFF) products, developed new analytical methods and demonstrated the fate and behaviour of these products in terms of their persistence and toxicity in soil, freshwater and marine environments. Research conducted by Megh and colleagues have demonstrated that certain dissolved organic matter-metal complexes and sorbed pesticides are bioavailable and this work has major implications for the toxicity, risk assessment and remediation of metals in soils.


Research Interests:

Megh’s current research interests include the development of bioremediation technologies (TCE, PCBs, pesticides, petroleum hydrocarbons) and ecological risk assessment of both organic and inorganic contaminants with special reference to mix contamination, determination of fate and behaviour of both organic and inorganic pollutants including their bioavailability and toxicity in the environment. Spanning over 25 years, the research experience concerning the environmental pollutant – microorganism interactions includes:


Bioavailability and ecotoxicity of organic (pesticides, PFAS, industrial chemicals) and inorganic (heavy metals and metalloids) contaminants including mix contamination
Development of sensitive, rapid toxicological methods (microbial) suitable for terrestrial toxicity testing and bioremediation efficacy evaluation
Isolation and characterisation of novel microorganisms (bacteria and algae) capable of detoxifying pollutants
Microbial degradation of pesticides, dioxin/dibenzofurans, PCBs, PAHs and petroleum hydrocarbons
Microbial transformation of heavy metal(loid)s (Arsenic, Chromium)
Bioremediation of TCE, PCBs and petroleum hydrocarbons in soils and groundwater
Development of cost-effective bioremediation technologies (including natural attenuation, biosorption and phytoremediation/phytostabilisation).
Microbial Fuel cells
Micro/nanoplastics
Mine site rehabilitation
Bionanotechnology/Fate and toxicity of nanoparticles in the environment
The role of terrestrial microalgae and cyanobacteria in pollutant degradation