Visiting Assistant Professor
Assistant Professor
Education
Ph.D., University of Maryland
M.S., University of Kiel
B.S., University of Kiel
Dr. Pecher received a M.S. in Zoology with a focus on Parasitology from the University of Kiel, Germany. From Kiel, he moved to Baltimore to pursue a Ph.D. in Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences at the University of Maryland, College Park. For his Ph.D. he joined the laboratory of Dr. Vasta at the University of Maryland Biotechnology (UMBI, now Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology, IMET) to work on host-pathogen interactions of aquatic animals. After completing his Ph.D., he continued to work at UMBI (IMET) as a post-doctoral research associate in the laboratory of Dr. Jagus, focusing on the characterization of proteins that are involved in the immune response to viral infections in fishes and other vertebrates. In 2009, he joined the University of Baltimore.
Dr. Pecher’s main research interests focus (1) on the ecology and biology of microorganisms of extreme and urban environments, and the impact of climactic and anthropogenic factors on these environments, and (2) on the use of microbes as sentinels for pollution. He was involved in projects to track fecal pollution in Baltimore’s waterways using eDNA (i.e., DNA based microbial source tracking), and the assessment of salt loving microorganisms as biomarkers of road salt pollution using microbiology and next generation sequencing (metabarcoding) approaches. Currently, he focuses on comparative analyses of microbiomes of hypersaline lakes, salt flats, and salt mines as well as urban soils.
Dr. Pecher teaches introductory courses in Biology, Chemistry, and Physical Sciences for non-majors and upper division laboratory courses in environmental chemistry, molecular genetics and biotechnology using a hands-on project-based approach. He is a strong proponent of the use of open resources in education. He has adapted and created open educational resources for his classes and promotes the use of open-source software alternatives, such as R.
Refereed Journal Articles
Pecher, W. T., Martínez, F. L., DasSarma, P., Guzmán, D., & DasSarma, S. (2020). 16S rRNA Gene Diversity in Ancient Gray and Pink Salt from San Simón Salt Mines in Tarija, Bolivia. Microbiology Resource Announcements.
Cycil, L. M., DasSarma, S., Pecher, W. T., McDonald, R., AbdulSalam, M., & Hasan, F. (2020). Metagenomic Insights Into the Diversity of Halophilic Microorganisms Indigenous to the Karak Salt Mine, Pakistan. Frontiers in Microbiology.
Pecher, W. T., Martínez, F. L., DasSarma, P., Guzmán, D., & DasSarma, S. (2020). 16S rRNA Gene Diversity in the Salt Crust of Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia, the World’s Largest Salt Flat. Microbiology Resource Announcements.
Conference Proceedings
Vincenti, G., & Pecher, W. T. (2020). Merging Sustainability and Technology in the Classroom: An Experience Report. ACM. 448-453.
Instructor's Manual
Pecher, W. T. (2021). Spatial Analysis and Mapping with R: A Short Tutorial. Pressbooks.
Pecher, W. T. BEYOND THE JONES FALLS: Sustainable Science, Environmental Engineering and Community Greening, "Environmental Science Panel," Friends of The Jones Falls & ASCE EWRI Maryland Chesapeake Bay Chapter, Baltimore. (2023).
"Functional analysis of microbial communities of extreme environments: salt flats and mines" (On-Going)
Using our own published Next Generation 16S Amplicon Sequencing data sets obtained from samples collected in Salar De Uyuni and salt mines (Pecher et al. 2020a, b) as well as public available data sets I am assessing possible functional characteristics and as such the metabolic capabilities of the microbial community in these hypersaline environments. Understanding the metabolic capabiliites of microbial community in these environments is of interest for the astrobiology community. The extreme environmental conditions at some of the salt flats make them a good analog to planets such as Mars. This study will contribute to a better understanding of resources and processes needed for the creation and maintenance of habitable environments that resemble Mars and other dry and oxygen limited planets, including extrasolar planets.