Dr Vinicius De Oliveira
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Postdoctoral Research Associates
- Plant growth experiments and laboratory analyses
- Data analyses and publications
- Liaising with project partners
- Supervising and supporting PGR students
- Organising the Departmental Seminar Series
- Part of the Athena Swan Committee
Areas of interest
- Plant-microbe interactions
- Plant physiology and molecular responses to abiotic stress
- Ecotoxicology
- Mycorrhizal symbiosis
- Soil pollution
- Bioremediation and phytoremediation
- Ecosystem restoration
Postgraduate supervision
- Co-supervision: Ella Serpell, PhD student. “Life in mines: exploring and harnessing the hidden microbiology of mine tailings, a journey of discovery and restoration”. Supervisor: Mark Tibbett.
- Co-supervision:Victoria Gauld, PhD student. “Phosphorus effects on the interactions between fine root endophytes and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi”. Supervisor: Mark Tibbett
Teaching
- Ecosystem Services and Nature-Based Solutions (Guest lecturer, 2024)
- Ecosystem Services and Nature-Based Solutions (Guest lecturer, 2025)
Research centres and groups
- Soil Ecology Lab
- Centre for Agri-Environmental Research
- Soil Research Centre
Research projects
2026 – Present: Soil health for mine rehabilitation, monitoring, and assessment: a desktop study. Alcoa of Australia
2025 – Present: Restoring biodiversity hotspots in phosphorus deplete landscapes. University of Reading (UoA6 REF case study project)
2025 – Present: Electrical communication between plants and mycorrhizal fungi: exploring the cellular and molecular basis of extended cognition. (V. Kann Rasmussen Foundation)
2023 – Present: Nutritional sustainability of Eneabba’s post-mining rehabilitation (Iluka - Western Australia)
This project aims to analyse soil and floristic data from post-mining sites in Southwest Western Australia, from the kwongan ecosystem, a biodiversity hotspot. I am tasked with analysing multiple edaphic and vegetation datasets, to understand the effects of rehabilitation practices on soils as well as the native, rare and endemic plant species. In particular, we investigate how phosphorus fertilisation is impacting soil fertility, stoichiometry and the growth of native P-sensitive species.
This project is in partnership with Iluka Resources and The University of Western Australia.
2021-2025: PROMT - Philippines Remediation of Mine Tailings
This project investigates new sustainable technologies to minimise the environmental hazards of mine tailings in the Philippines. One of the main goals of this project is to investigate the potential of using environmentally benign solvents to re-extract copper from mine tailings, which decreases its toxicity to allow plant establishment on this waste material. This can add economic value to tailings while decontaminating it from toxic elements. As part of the “Ecosystem Development” area (led by Prof Mark Tibbett), my role is to carry out different organic acid leaching and plant growth experiments to better understand how metal mobilisation influence plant development, nutrition and survival.
This NERC-funded project is in partnership with the University of the Philippines, University of Exeter, University of Leicester and the British Geological Survey.
Background
I was previously a postdoctoral fellow in Brazil (FAPESP) at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP). I led a 4-year project investigating how Eucalyptus trees can tolerate high soil manganese under phosphorus deficiency, as well as how mycorrhizal fungi can alleviate phytotoxic effects and modulate gene expression and organic acid exudation in eucalypts.
Academic qualifications
University of Reading (2015 – 2019)
PhD in Agriculture: Uptake processes of Cd and Zn in mycorrhizal poplars and their potential for environmental remediation (thesis)
Agronomic Institute (IAC), Brazil (2011 – 2013)
MSc in Agri-Environmental Management: Background concentrations and ecotoxicological risk of cadmium in soils (dissertation)
Federal University of Sao Carlos (UFSCar), Brazil (2006 – 2009)
BSc in Biotechnology – Federal University of Sao Carlos (Brazil)
Awards and honours
- 2009 – Scientific Initiation Scholarship (FAPESP), UFSCar, Brazil
- 2011-2013 – MSc Research Scholarship (FAPESP), Agronomic Institute, Brazil
- 2015 -2019 – Fully funded PhD scholarship (CAPES), University of Reading, UK
- 2019-2023 – Postdoctoral Fellowship (FAPESP), University of Campinas, Brazil
Websites/blogs
Selected publications
De Oliveira VH, Dobrowolski MP, Duddigan S, Tibbett M. 2025. Edaphic legacy of phosphorus fertiliser in the restoration of the biodiverse Kwongan ecosystem in ultra-low P soils. CATENA, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2025.108961
De Oliveira VH, Montanha, GS, Carvalho, HWP, Mazzafera P, de Andrade SAL. 2023. Mycorrhizal symbiosis alleviates Mn toxicity and downregulates Mn transporter genes in Eucalyptus tereticornis under contrasting soil phosphorus. Plant and Soil. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-023-06024-4
Tibbett M, Green I, Rate A, De Oliveira VH, Whitaker J. 2021 The transfer of trace metals in the soil-plant-arthropod system. Science of The Total Environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146260
De Oliveira VH, Ullah I, Dunwell JM, Tibbett M. 2020. Bioremediation potential of Cd by transgenic yeast expressing a metallothionein gene from Populus trichocarpa. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2020.110917
De Oliveira VH, Ullah I, Dunwell JM, Tibbett. 2020. Mycorrhizal symbiosis induces divergent patterns of transport and partitioning of Cd and Zn in Populus trichocarpa. Environmental and Experimental Botany. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envexpbot.2019.103925