Xiaozhen Mou

Xiaozhen Mou is a Professor and MA Coordinator in the Department of Biological Sciences at Kent State University. Her research focuses on molecular microbial ecology, particularly bacterial roles in biogeochemical cycles and environmental toxin degradation. She leads the Molecular Microbial Ecology Laboratory, emphasizing metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, and advanced molecular techniques.

Education: Ph.D. in Marine Microbiology (University of Georgia), M.S. in Marine Chemistry (Chinese Academy of Sciences), B.S. in Chemistry (Qingdao University).

Research interests include: bacterial transformation of dissolved organic nitrogen, microbially mediated nitrogen removal, cyanotoxin detoxification in Lake Erie, ecological genomics of aquatic bacteria, and pharmaceutical impacts on freshwater microbiology. Recent work includes wastewater monitoring for SARS-CoV-2 and lignin degradation studies.

Teaching includes Microbial Ecology, Marine Biology, and Biodiversity courses. Her lab actively collaborates on environmental projects, such as the Ohio Coronavirus Wastewater Monitoring Network.