Dr. Anat Bernstein's research focuses on biodegradation of organic pollutants in the subsurface. The general questions that she's interested in are: (1) Do the target compounds degrade in the sub-surface? (2) How do they degrade (what is the governing pathway)? (3) At what rates do they degrade? (4) What is the effect of environmental factors (nutrient availability, redox, etc) on their degradation?

To address her research questions, she uses compound-specific isotope analysis (CSIA) techniques, in addition complementary methodologies (e.g. geochemical data and microbial tools). Dr. Bernstein's work effort is divided between: (1) Analytical work, in which she aims in introducing new CSIA techniques, (2) Mechanistic work, in which she uses CSIA for studying the basic mechanism of degradation processes under controlled laboratory conditions, and (3) Field work, in which she uses CSIA for studying the degradation of the target compounds in-situ.

Scientific Publications 2015-2020
1. * Balaban, N., S Bernstein, A.,PI Gelman, F., PI Ronen, Z. PI (2016). Microbial degradation of the brominated flame retardant TBNPA by groundwater bacteria: laboratory and field study. Chemosphere. 156: 367-373 5 citations ISI, 5 citations GS; IF (2018) 5.108; 32/250 (Environmental Sciences); Q1

2. * Gafni, A., S Lihl, C., S Gelman, F., PI Elsner, M., PI and Bernstein, A. PI (2018). δ13C and δ37Cl isotope fractionation to characterize aerobic vs. anaerobic degradation of trichloroethylene. Environ. Sci. Technol. Let. 5(4): 202-208 4 citations ISI, 5 citation GS IF (2018) 6.934; 16/250 (Environmental Sciences); Q1

3. * Ganot, Y., S Holtzman, R., PI Weisbrod, N.,C Bernstein, A.,C Siebner, H.,C Katz, Y., C Kurtzman, D. PI (2018). Modeling the spreading of reverse-osmosis-desalinated-seawater in an aquifer using stable water isotopes. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences. 22: 6323–6333 1 citations ISI, 1 citations GS; IF (2018) 4.936; 3/91 (Water Resources); Q1

4. * Golan, R., PD Gelman, F., PI Kuder, T., PI Taylor, A.A., S Ronen, Z., PI and Bernstein, A. PI (2019). Degradation of 4-bromophenol by Ochrobactrum sp. HI1 isolated from desert soil: pathway and isotope effects. Biodegradation. 30(1): 37-46 2 citations ISI, 3 citations GS; IF (2018) 2.534; 78/162 (Biotechnology and Applied Microbiology); Q2

5. * Kuder, T., PI Bernstein, A., PI Gelman, F. PI (2019). Derivatization-Free Method for Compound-Specific Isotope Analysis of Nonexchangeable Hydrogen of 4-Bromophenol. Rapid Communication in Mass Spectrometry. 33 (7): 667-677
1 citations ISI, 1 citations GS; IF (2018) 2.0450; 20/41 (Spectroscopy), Q2
6. Lihl C.,S Renpenning J., Kümmel S., Gelman F.,C Schürner HKV, Daubmeier M., Heckel B., Melsbach A., Bernstein A.,C Shouakar-Stash O., Gehre M., Elsner M.PI (2019). Chemical synthesis of new chlorine isotope standard materials and characterization via complementary mass spectrometry methods. Analytical Chemistry. 91 (19): 12290-12297
1 citations ISI, 2 citations GS; IF (2018) 6.350; 7/84 (Chemistry, Analytical); Q1
7. Bernstein, A. PI Golan, R., PD Gelman, F. PI, Kuder T .PI (2019). Microbial oxidation of tri-halogenated phenols - multi-element isotope fractionation. International Biodeterioration and Biodegradation. 145: 104811 (in progress)
0 citations; IF (2018) 3.786; 36/162 (Biotechnology and Applied Microbiology); Q1
8. *Balaban, N.,S Yankelzon, I., S Adar, E.,C Gelman, F.,PI Ronen, Z., PI and Bernstein, A. PI (2019). The spatial distribution of the microbial community in a contaminated aquitard below an industrial zone. Water. 11 (10), 2128 (in progress)
0 citations; IF (2018) 2.524; 29/91 (Water Resources); Q2
9. * Gafni, A., S Gelman, F., PI Ronen, Z., PI Bernstein, A. PI (2020). Variable carbon and chlorine isotope fractionation in TCE co-metabolic oxidation. Chemosphere. 242: 125130 (in progress)
0 citations; IF (2018) 5.108; 32/250 (Environmental Sciences); Q1

10. * Gafni, A. S, Siebner, H.,T and Bernstein, A. PI (2020). Potential for co-metabolic oxidation of TCE and evidence for its occurrence in a large-scale aquifer survey. Water Research. Accepted
0 citations; IF (2018) 7.913; 1/91 (Water Resources); Q1

11. * Knossow, N.S Siebner, H.,T and Bernstein, A.PI (2020). Isotope analysis method for the herbicide bromoxynil and its application to study photo-degradation processes. J. Hazard. Mater. Accepted
0 citations; IF (2018) 7.650; 12/250 (Environmental Sciences); Q1
12. * Knossow, N.S, Siebner, H.,T and Bernstein, A.PI (2020). Isotope fractionation (δ13C, δ15N) in the microbial degradation of bromoxynil by aerobic and anaerobic soil enrichment cultures. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 68 (6), 1546-1554
0 citations; IF (2018) 3.571; 3/53 (Agriculture, multidisciplinary); Q1

13. * Bernstein, A., PI Studny, R., S Shyntychea, V., S Kurtzman, D., PI Ganot, Y., S Katz, Y., PI Abrha, B., S Sakaguchi-Söder, K., C Schüth, C., PI Siebner, H. PI (2020). Low trihalomethanes formation during managed aquifer recharge with chlorinated desalinated water. Water. Accepted
0 citations; IF (2018) 2.524; 29/91 (Water Resources); Q2

14. * Yankelzon I.,S Engelman, T., S Bernstein A.,PI Siebner, H., Ronen Z., PI and Gelman F. PI (2020). Multi-elemental C-Br-Cl isotope analysis for characterizing bioticand abiotic transformations of 1-bromo-2-chloroethane (BCE). Environmental Science and Pollution Research. Accepted
IF (2018) 2.914; 91/250 (Environmental Sciences); Q2

Ph.D. 2004-2008 Dep. of Geological and Environmental Sciences, BGU

M.Sc. 2000-2003 Dep. of Geological and Environmental Sciences, BGU

B.Sc. 1997-2000 Dep. Soil and Water Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI) -Cum Laude