Contact Dr Mithil Mahale
Background
Dr Mithil Mahale is a Research Fellow in Phototrophic Bioprocesses at the Cranfield Water Science Institute, Cranfield University, with expertise in environmental microbiology, microbial bioremediation, water quality monitoring, and biological wastewater treatment. His research focuses on harnessing microorganisms and phototrophic bioprocesses to address environmental challenges, including microbial remediation of hazardous pollutants, bacteriophage ecology and monitoring in water systems, and resource recovery from wastewater and waste-derived streams.
His current research focuses on the development and optimisation of purple non-sulphur bacteria (PNSB)-based phototrophic bioprocesses for the treatment of liquid digestate and biorefinery effluents. This work investigates nutrient removal, biomass production and recovery of value-added products such as polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), contributing to the development of resource-efficient and circular approaches to wastewater and waste management.
His doctoral research at Savitribai Phule Pune University, awarded in January 2026, investigated microbial remediation of the "Toxic Trio", heavy metals, antibiotics, and other hazardous contaminants from wastewater under a One Health framework. This work elucidated the genomic and mechanistic basis of pollutant remediation by environmental bacteria, exemplified by the characterisation of Achromobacter sp. M1, published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials (2024).
Mithil brings broad technical expertise spanning environmental microbiology, microbial cultivation, molecular biology, enzymology, and analytical chemistry. His technical experience includes PCR, RT-qPCR, Sanger and Nanopore sequencing, NGS bioinformatics, HPLC, FTIR, microbial cultivation and characterisation, and wastewater analysis.
Research opportunities
• Phototrophic Bioprocesses
• Water Science and Engineering
• Wastewater Treatment and Resource Recovery
• Environmental Microbiology
• Microbial Bioremediation
• Nutrient Recovery
• Circular Bioeconomy
• Emerging Pollutants
• One Health
Current activities
Dr. Mithil Mahale is currently working on the development of phototrophic bioprocesses using purple non-sulphur bacteria (PNSB) for the treatment of liquid digestate and biorefinery effluents within the European OLinWASTE project. His work focuses on optimising PNSB cultivation under different operating conditions, including near-infrared light intensity, digestate dilution and microbial source, with the aim of improving nutrient removal and biomass production.
A key focus of his research is the recovery of value from waste-derived streams through PNSB-based bioprocesses, including the production and accumulation of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs). The work contributes to the development of scalable and resource-efficient processes for nitrogen and phosphorus removal, biomass recovery and bioproduct generation within a circular bioeconomy framework.
His previous research at Cranfield also included the investigation of microplastic generation within wastewater treatment works through attrition, supporting the validation of pilot-scale treatment systems and the development of approaches for improved microplastic removal.
He has also investigated the role of somatic coliphages as viral indicators for water treatment strategies, contributing to the development of microbial monitoring frameworks for drinking water safety. This work, funded by UK Water Industry Research (UKWIR), integrates culture-based phage methods with sequencing-enabled approaches to improve understanding of microbial risk and treatment efficacy.
Clients
- UK Water Industry Research
Publications
Articles In Journals
- Mahale M, Samson R, Dharne M, Mahajan V & Kodam K. (2026). A putative novel Exiguobacterium species from a co-contaminated river mediates two-stage removal of heavy metals and ciprofloxacin. Bioresource Technology Reports, 35
- Nandre V, Mahale M, Patil R, Kasote D, Sarnikar S, .... (2025). Isolation and Characterization of a Novel Silicate-Solubilizing Bacterial Strain Staphylococcus ureilyticus MV-1 Associated with Grape Wine. Silicon, 17(1)
- Patil RS, Nandre VS, Mahale M, Kodam K, Mhetre SN, .... (2025). Thermally synthesized zinc oxide nanoparticles: applications in wastewater remediation and grapevine bacterial blight management. Proceedings of the Indian National Science Academy, 91(4)
- Mahale M, Samson R, Dharne M & Kodam K. (2024). Harnessing the potential of Achromobacter sp. M1 to remediate heavy metals from wastewater: Genomic insights and environmental applications. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 480
- Singh S, Navale GR, Mahale M, Chaudhary VK, Kodam K, .... (2022). Photodissociation of nitric oxide from designed ruthenium nitrosyl complex: Studies on wound healing and antibacterial activity. Nitric Oxide, 129
Books
- Mahale MR & Kodam KM. (2025). The emergence of agrowaste valorization: a revolutionizing sustainability In Sustainable Management of Agro-Food Waste. Elsevier.
- Mahale M, Nalawade V, Kodam K, Mahamuni S & Srivastava L. (2025). Green Fuel Production from Waste: An Approach Toward Environmental Cleanness and Smart Ecosystem Services In Advances in Geographical and Environmental Sciences (Part F8056). Springer Nature Singapore.
- Sowani H, Mahale M, Nandre VS, Meena SN, Kodam KM, .... (2023). Role of natural compounds in metal removing strategies In New Horizons in Natural Compound Research. Elsevier.