She is also interested in the characterisation of these systems, developing in situ and time resolved high resolution imaging and spectroscopic techniques to follow microbe-mineral reactions as they occur.
She joined Hu Barnes at Pennsylvania State University as a postdoctoral researcher in 1996, holding a Swiss National Science Foundation international fellowship.
[3] During her tenure at Leeds, she carried out low to hydrothermal geochemical and biogeochemical studies, with a special focus on laboratory experimental research.
[9][10] In 2014 Liane G. Benning was appointed Head of Interface Geochemistry at the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences[11] and became a professor at the Free University of Berlin in April 2016.
[16][17] She is one of the PI's on a large Natural Environment Research Council project that aims to understand how dark (black) particles and microbial processes (bloom) impact ice sheet melting.
[18][19][20] Whilst it was assumed that the low albedo on glaciers, which is typically attributed to soot or dust, is actually due to microbial populations,[21] the Black and Bloom team identified that the darkest areas on the surfaces of the ice sheet are home to the highest number of microorganisms.