Kostas Konstantinidis
Contact
EST 3202Georgia TechBiography
Dr. Kostas Konstantinidis is the Richard C. Tucker Professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the School of Biological Sciences (adjunct) at Georgia Tech and Program Faculty for the Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University. He earned his BS (1999) in Agricultural Sciences from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece and his PhD (2004) from the Center for Microbial Ecology at Michigan State University, under the supervision of James Tiedje. Prior to joining the faculty at Georgia Tech in 2007, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at MIT under the supervision of Ed DeLong. Dr. Konstantinidis has published ~240 peer-reviewed articles in the areas that he performs research in, which have received in excess of 42,000 citations (Google Scholar). Accordingly, he has made the top 1% of world's Highly Cited scientists and engineers list by Clarivate/Web of Science since 2020. He has received several distinctions and awards for his work, including to be an elected member of the honorary American Academy of Microbiology (ASM), and a 2025-2026 ASM Distinguished Lecturer. See also lab website for further details at: http://enve-omics.gatech.edu
Research Interests
The overarching goal of Dr. Konstantinidis’ research is to advance understanding of how microorganisms adapt to human-induced environmental perturbations and to cause disease. He is also interested in biotechnological applications of microbial diversity in the bioremediation of environmental pollutants and the assessment of water quality. The great majority of microorganisms resists cultivation in the laboratory and thus, cannot be studied efficiently. Therefore, another major objective of Dr. Konstantinidis’ research program is to develop novel culture-independent (aka metagenomics and metatranscriptomics) approaches and the associated bioinformatics tools to study microbial communities in-situ, in both natural (e.g., terrestrial or marine) as well as human-associated (e.g., wastewater treatment plants, the human gut) systems. The bioinformatics tools are made freely available online through a dedicated webserver (https://enveomics.scigap.org) for analysis of microbial genomic and metagenomic data by external users, and for educational purposes. Currently, >3,000 users per month use this webserver. Dr. Konstantinidis’ research has addressed several pressing questions in these areas such as what is a microbial species and how species evolve, and provided biomarkers for fecal pollution tracking and biodegradation of important contaminants. Accordingly, he is considered a world leader in the fields of microbiome engineering and genomics. More details on active research projects in the lab are provided through the lab website (https://enve-omics.gatech.edu/ongoing-projects/).
Teaching Interests
CEE2300. Environmental Engineering Principles. Fundamental physical, chemical and biological principles are introduced and highlighted using specific environmental examples. An overall objective for the course is to develop and utilize fundamental principles in environmental systems.
CEE6311. Microbial Principles. This course is an overview of basic and applied themes in microbiology. The course introduces principles of microbiology including microbial diversity, microbial evolution, metabolic diversity, and microbial ecology. Microbial processes for industrial and biotechnological applications will be discussed. Specific topics related to environmental engineering receive particular focus, including microbial nutrition and growth, water and wastewater microbiology, biochemical thermodynamics, and microbial kinetics.
CEE/BIOL6720. Environmental Microbial Genomics. The objectives for the course are to expose students to advanced concepts and principles of contemporary microbiological research and associated bioinformatics techniques through representative examples from recent literature. Topics covered include, but are not limited to: the value of diversity of microbial genes and genomes for the lifesustaining biogeochemical cycles, disease control, and biotechnology; the complexity of microbial communities; the interactions among microbes and their environment; and the influence of the environment in shaping and driving the evolution of microbial genomes and microbial communities. The course also offers an extensive discussion of the cutting-edge technologies and methodologies that enable contemporary research. Emphasis is given on “How-To” tackle recurrent research problems through bioinformatics exercises, which make up about 2/3 of the course.