About LEAP
Dr. Juergen Polle is Professor in the Department of Biology at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York. He joined Brooklyn College in Fall 2002 and established the Laboratory for Experimental and Applied Phycology (LEAP). The laboratory combines fundamental research with applied microalgae biotechnology.
For the past 15 years LEAP worked with various microalgae, including unicellular green algae, diatoms, and cyanobacteria. LEAP’s research with green algae focuses on improving biomass productivity, secondary carotenoid biosynthesis, and biofuels production from microalgae. Research in LEAP was funded for example by the U.S. Department of Energy, National Institutes of Health, and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.
Dr. Polle is recognized for his work on green algae of the genus Dunaliella. Following several years of isolation, screening, and identification of microalgal strains for biomass and lipid productivities as a partner within the National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts, several new species of green algae are now under closer investigation regarding growth and stress metabolism. Currently, LEAP applies a comparative systems biology approach to unravel regulatory mechanism governing carbon core metabolism and the molecular switch to abiotic stress metabolism.