Ludmilla Aristilde

Ludmilla Aristilde is a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Northwestern University. She is also affiliated with the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Earth and Planetary Sciences by courtesy. Her research focuses on the combined application of experimental and computational tools in chemistry and biochemistry to study the role of natural mineral and biological catalysts in environmental organic processes. Her work explores the environmental behavior of organics, with implications for nutrient cycling, ecosystem health, agricultural productivity, and environmental biotechnology. Current research includes cellular carbon metabolism in environmental bacteria, catalytic dynamics of extracellular enzymes, and the physical chemistry of biomolecules and organic contaminants in environmental matrices.

Ludmilla Aristilde is a professor at Northwestern University with research interests in Organic processes, Biocatalysis, mineral catalysis, carbon metabolism, and metabolomics. Her work explores the degradation of synthetic plastics, ethanol production in syngas-fermenting bacteria, and interactions of antibiotics with clay minerals. She investigates the role of weak organic ligands in metal uptake by marine phytoplankton and the impact of pH on metal bioavailability. Aristilde also examines the metabolic responses of soil bacteria to glyphosate and the complex regulation of aromatic carbon metabolism. Her research integrates molecular dynamics, spectroscopy, and multi-omics approaches to understand microbial interactions with environmental contaminants and nutrient cycling.