
February 7, 2025
As part of the elective course Bioinspired Material Design, in the master’s program Sustainable Built Environments at the University of Primorska, students explored microbial diversity in wooden structures. In the fieldwork, led by Dr. Karen Butina Ogorelec, InnoRenew CoE researcher, students focused on exploring fungi associated with structures in urban and natural environments.
Students selected various wooden objects in Izola and its surroundings, documenting the object, sampling site, coordinates, altitude, orientation of the sampling site, and weather conditions before and during sampling (for example whether the sampling was conducted after rain). For sample collection, they used nylon swabs to scrape the wood surface and transferred the material to petri dishes with two different culture media adapted for the growth of different types of micro-organisms.
After one week of incubation period, samples were examined, and the most interesting fungi were selected. The chosen fungi were isolated and preserved in a fungal collection for further research. Additionally, biochemical tests were performed on the selected fungi to assess their ability to degrade specific substrates. This ability is an important indicator of the applied potential of isolated fungal species, which could enable their use in various fields, such as the development of new materials and improving construction processes toward sustainable development.
The fieldwork also served as an excellent example of student engagement in research activities, allowing them to try sampling and analyzing fungi for the first time. This approach will later be used in a broader citizen science project led by Dr. Karen Butina Ogorelec within the framework of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) project “Microbially Induced Mineralisation of Wood for Improved Fire Resistance (MICRO-INSERT)”. In addition to her research work about the use of micro-organisms for the deposition of calcium carbonate in wood, with the aim of improving its fire resistance, she will also carry out citizen science activities to raise awareness of the importance of sustainable development and the use of biological approaches in the design of the built environment.
For students, this was an excellent opportunity to gain practical experience and engage in interdisciplinary research activities. Investigating microbial diversity in wooden structures is an important step towards a better understanding of interactions between microorganisms and construction materials. These insights are essential for designing more sustainable, natural, and environmentally friendly materials.
Authors: Dr. Karen Butina Ogorelec, Lea Primožič, InnoRenew CoE