Working on the
Code of Life

I'm a molecular ecologist and environmental microbiologist based in Estonia. My work spans from the dark anoxic depths of the Baltic Sea to sunny Florida Everglades within our natural environments. Furthermore, I have additionally looked into grey infrastructure (WBE, drainage biofilms) — deciphering how microbial communities shape, and are shaped by, their environments through the lens of modern molecular diagnostics and genomics.

🧬

Molecular Diagnostics

Wastewater-based epidemiology, SARS-CoV-2 surveillance, antimicrobial resistance tracking, and genomic microbial source tracking.

🌊

Microbial Ecology

Spatiotemporal bacterioplankton dynamics in the Baltic Sea, Florida Everglades, and Keys Archipelago anoxic "dead zones".

🏙️

Urban Water Systems

Smart city monitoring of urban water environments via the FinEst Centre for Smart Cities initiative.

🦠

Microplastics & Biofilms

Plastisphere research — how biofilms on marine microplastics act as vectors for microbial transport and pathogens.

Technical Stack
R / Bioconductor Nextflow Singularity Docker CONDA Linux sysadmin HPC clusters Cloud services amplicon sequencing metagenomics qPCR / ddPCR
Selected Publications
2025
Deciphering the microbiota compositions of complex biofilms from hospital and domestic settings
Killian, C., … Laas, P., et al.
FEMS Microbiology Letters, 372 · DOI: 10.1093/femsle/fnaf118 ↗
2024
EUKARYOME: the rRNA gene reference database for identification of all eukaryotes
Tedersoo, L., … Laas, P., et al.
Database, 2024 · DOI: 10.1093/database/baae043 ↗
2023
Prediction of COVID-19 positive cases, a nation-wide SARS-CoV-2 wastewater-based epidemiology study
Kisand, V., Laas, P., et al.
Water Research, 231 · DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2023.119617 ↗
Composition and distribution of diazotrophs in the Baltic Sea
Salamon Slater, E.R., … Laas, P., et al.
Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 294 · DOI: 10.1016/j.ecss.2023.108527 ↗
↓ Download CV (PDF) Google Scholar ETIS Profile

Current Work

2024 – 2027

UrbanSplash: Smart City Water

FinEst Centre for Smart Cities · Principal Investigator: Ciprian Briciu-Burghina (Partner)

Implementing smart technologies to monitor and manage urban water environments. The pilot project develops sensor networks and molecular diagnostic tools capable of real-time water quality assessment and early-warning surveillance for urban catchments.

💶 ~1.2M EUR · State Shared Service Center
Isolation of bacteria
2021 – 2026

The Marine "Plastisphere"

Impact of marine microplastic-associated biofilms on environmental and human health

Investigating how biofilms colonising marine microplastics serve as vectors for microbial transport, including potential pathogens. The "plastisphere" — the microbial community bound to plastic surfaces — represents a novel, globally distributed ecological niche with poorly understood public-health implications.

🇳🇴 Research Council of Norway

Past Work

2020 – 2023

COVID-19 Wastewater Surveillance

Lead role in establishing Estonia's nationwide SARS-CoV-2 wastewater monitoring system. The programme provided government-facing early-warning epidemiological data and developed validated tools for sequencing SARS-CoV-2 from wastewater samples at national scale. Nominated for "Tartu Deed of the Year".

💶 ~1.1M EUR · Ministry of Education and Research
2016 – 2020

Baltic Sea Bacterioplankton Dynamics

Spatiotemporal characterisation of bacterioplankton communities across the Baltic Sea's environmental gradients — including hypoxic near-bottom zones and halocline stratification — to understand how physical and biogeochemical processes structure microbial diversity at multiple scales.

Education & Positions

Employment History
TalTech – Tallinn University of Technology
Research Fellow in Molecular Ecology · 0.8 position
2020 – Present
University of Tartu, Institute of Technology
Research Fellow in Molecular Ecology · 0.2 position · Part-time
Projects: "Development of surveillance system of SARS-CoV-2 based on waste water analysis" (2021–2022); "Development of tools to sequence SARS-CoV-2 from wastewater samples" (2024); "COMplex Biofilms and AMR Transmission" (2021–2024)
2021 – Present
Tallinn University
Lecturer · Contract — "Modern Molecular Methods in Ecology"
2020 – Present
Kliimaministeerium / Ministry of Climate of Estonia
Advisory Committee Member · Gene Technology Committee
2011 – Present
Klaipeda University
Chief Research Scientist · Part-time
Jul 2024 – Jan 2025
University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences
Postdoctoral Research Associate · Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center
2017 – 2020
TalTech – Tallinn University of Technology
Scientific Researcher
Apr – Jun 2017
Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde
Postdoctoral Associate
2016 – 2017
Tallinn University of Technology
Junior Researcher
2013 – 2016
Tallinn University of Technology
Engineer
2010 – 2012
University of Tartu
Research Assistant
2009 – 2010
Degrees
2016
PhD in Gene Technology
Tallinn University of Technology
"Spatiotemporal Niche-Partitioning of Bacterioplankton Community across Environmental Gradients in the Baltic Sea"
2010
MSc in Gene Technology
University of Tartu
2008
BSc in Gene Technology
University of Tartu
Teaching

Modern Methods in Molecular Ecology

Master-level course at Tallinn University. Bridges theoretical knowledge with practical lab work, focusing on DNA/RNA-based methods in ecology — amplicon sequencing, metagenomics, and bioinformatic pipelines.

Events & Honours

Conference Organisation
2019 – 2023
SAME17 — 17th Symposium on Aquatic Microbial Ecology
Organiser of the flagship conference in aquatic microbial ecology.
Science Policy
2025 – Present
Estonian Gene Technology Committee
Chair — national expert body overseeing GMO regulation and gene technology policy.
Jun 2023
Science4Policy — JRC Training Events
Expert participant, Joint Research Centre, Brussels.
2011 – Present
Estonian Society for Microbiology
Member.
Awards
🏆
University of Tartu Contribution to Society Award 2021 · For nation-wide SARS-CoV-2 wastewater surveillance programme

Presentations

Conference & Seminar Presentations
30.11.2010
Introduction To Bacterial Life in the Ocean
Seminar at Marine Systems Institute (MSI), Tallinn
13.12.2010
Mesocosm experiment LightDynaMix, HCMR Greece
Centre for Biology of Integrated Systems (CBIS) & MSI seminar
24.08.2011
Dynamics of Bacterioplankton Composition in the Gulf of Finland (Metagenomic Approach)
BSSC 2011 (Baltic Sea Science Congress)
29.09.2011
Spatial Variability of Winter Bacterioplankton Communities in the Gulf of Finland
CBIS seminar
17.04.2012
Journal Club presentation
TalTech, Tallinn
13.06.2012
Läänemere bakterplanktoni koosluste dünaamika
TalTech, Tallinn
07.11.2012
Flow cytometry in marine microbiology
Eesti FACSi kasutajate konverents (Estonian FACS users conference)
26.04.2013
GTI presentation
Institute of Gene Technology seminar
17.10.2013
Spatiotemporal patterns of bacterioplankton in the Gulf of Finland
TalTech MSI seminar, Tallinn
29.10.2013
Proteorhodopsin
JC, Tallinn
28.02.2014
The Dynamics of 'Smallest Bugs' in the Gulf of Finland (Baltic Sea)
OSM 2014 (Ocean Sciences Meeting, Hawai, USA)
09.06.2014
Laanemere bakterplanktoni koosluste duunaamika (Atesteerimine)
ATT 2014, TalTech
01.10.2014
Spatiotemporal dynamics of bacterioplankton in the Gulf of Finland
IOW (Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research), Warnemünde
17.10.2014
Elust maal ja merel
Seminar, Tallinn
18.11.2014
The bacterioplankton of the Gulf of Finland — 'gold mine' of biodiversity?
Presentation, Tallinn
31.03.2015
Läänemere bakterplankton
Seminar, MSI
Jun 2015
Single-cell genomics of the Baltic Sea microbes
eCOST STSM report, Brussels
05.07.2016
Spatiotemporal niche-partitioning of bacterioplankton community across environmental gradients in the Baltic Sea
PhD defence, TTU Tallinn
11.01.2017
Spatiotemporal dynamics of bacterioplankton community in the Gulf of Finland and ideas for future
Biology Section Seminar, IOW Warnemünde
23.03.2017
What Peeter did in Germany?!
MSI seminar, Tallinn
06.04.2017
Laanemere bakterite identifitseerimine DNA pohjal
Eesti veepaevakonverents
02.11.2017
Surgeonfish gut microbiology
University of Florida, IFAS, Fort Lauderdale
10.04.2018
The Everglades
UF IFAS FLREC lab meeting, Fort Lauderdale
Apr 2019
Effects of Hurricane Irma on Aquatic Microbial Communities of the Everglades
GEER 2019 (Greater Everglades Ecosystem Restoration)
04.11.2020
VHK presentation
VHK seminar
20.01.2022
Building up the early warning surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 based on wastewater analysis
UF seminar, University of Tartu
16.03.2022
Bacterial communities in ballast tanks of cargo vessels
mereRITA seminar
08.09.2022
BSNCN meeting presentation
BSNCN (Baltic Sea Nitrogen Cycling Network)
20.01.2023
Microbial cocktails we mix in the sea
TUTI konverents, University of Tartu
31.01.2023
Reovesi kui ühiskonna hingepeegel — SARS-CoV-2 reoveeseire Eestis
Luts seminar
08.03.2024
Microbiome of Limecola balthica
Seminar, University of Tartu
26.03.2024
Microbial diversity in/on Fe-Mn concretions together with associated sediments and water
Tallinn
19.04.2024
Science4Policy — Short Brief on UrbanSplash project proposal
Science4Policy presentation
23.04.2024
COMBAT project: Putting Biofilms in the Tube
COMBAT meeting
24.04.2024
COMBAT project: Amplicon Sequencing-Based Data Analyses
COMBAT meeting
25.04.2024
UrbanSplash Short Brief
UrbanSplash meeting, Tartu/Dublin
25.09.2024
FeMn concretions in the Gulf of Finland
Manuscript seminar, University of Tartu
16.10.2024
MHK presentation
MHK seminar
22.10.2024
Treasure under the sea: microbial communities associated with ferromanganese nodules in the Gulf of Finland
Seminar, Tenson Lab
09.01.2025
Microbial Marvels: From the Baltic Sea to Subtropical Frontiers in Ecology and Biomedicine
Florida Atlantic University Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute seminar
Posters
Nov 2012
Spatial and temporal shifts of picoplankton abundance and bacterioplankton diversity in the Gulf of Finland
Eesti Mereteadus 2012
Aug 2013
Spatiotemporal patterns of bacterioplankton in the Gulf of Finland
SAME 13 (Symposium on Aquatic Microbial Ecology)
Nov 2014
Phytoplankton and bacterioplankton communities in the Gulf of Finland
Barcelona 2014
Oct 2015
Laanemere mikroobikooslused — bioloogiline kullavaramu
BPjaBT 2015
2017
Seagrass microbiome
Poster/figure
2022
Hybrid assembly of Nanopore and Illumina reads — solving fragmented de novo assembly of resistant bacterial genomes
OHEJPASM 2022
Teaching & Lectures
21.03.2014
Mikroobid (bakterid, arhed ja viirused) meres
Lecture, TTU MSI
09.05.2014
Oekoloogilise mikrobioloogia praktikum
TLU practical course
13.05.2015
Molecular ecology practical
TLU practical course
2016
Bakterid meres
Presentation for students
2017
Molecular ecology practical
TLU practical course
20.10.2020
Mikroorganismid ja merekeskkond
Opetajate koolitus, TalTech
2023
Environmental microbiology + ONT nanopore sequencing
University of Tartu · LTTI.00.017
2024
Environmental microbiology — Contemporary Lab Techniques
University of Tartu · LTTI.00.017
Supervised Student Presentations
Spatio-temporal variation of bacterioplankton community composition across vertical clines in the Gulf of Finland
Elina Satova · MSc defence · co-sup. Inga Lips
2015
Exploring the Microbial Communities of Ferromanganese Concretions and Pockmarks in the Gulf of Finland
Līva Kristiāna Lukaša · MSc defence · co-sup. Veljo Kisand
2024
Initial bacterial colonization of the marine plastisphere
Karolin Kullison · MSc defence · co-sup. Natalja Buhhalko
2025