Dimitri Deheyn
· ProfessorVerifiedUniversity of California, San Diego · Chemical and Nano Engineering
Active 1996–2026
About
Dr. Dimitri Deheyn is an Associate Research Scientist and Lecturer at the Marine Biology Research Division of Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego. He leads a cross-disciplinary research program rooted in biomimicry, the science of learning from nature to develop sustainable materials, biochemical processes, and innovations that promote circularity across industrial and societal systems. His work bridges fundamental biological research with real-world applications, often collaborating with industry through the BEST Initiative (Biomimicry for Emerging Science and Technology), which he founded to support industry-driven sustainability solutions. Dr. Deheyn's scientific interests encompass a broad spectrum including biophotonics—such as bioluminescence, fluorescence, and structural coloration—bioadhesion and anti-biofouling, UV protection, and unusual biomaterials with potential applications in biotechnology, biomedicine, and packaging. He investigates the biological mechanisms underlying these traits to develop biomimetic strategies aimed at fostering a more sustainable future. A central and expanding focus of Dr. Deheyn's research is the ecotoxicology of emerging pollutants, particularly plastics and textile microfibers, including their chemical additives. He studies microfiber sources, degradation potential, distribution mechanisms, and their impacts on ecosystems and public health. His research utilizes samples collected globally from diverse environments ranging from polar to tropical regions, high alpine areas, the deep sea, and from air, snow, rain, and organisms across Africa, Europe, and the United States. Dr. Deheyn actively involves a network of citizen scientists, including explorers, nature enthusiasts, and high school students, to sustain this research. Recent projects have applied biological light phenomena such as fluorescence and bioluminescence as biosensors to assess the toxicity of micropollutants, providing novel insights into contaminant impacts. His work not only addresses environmental pollution but also supports the development of circular fashion systems. Born and raised in Africa and South America, Dr. Deheyn earned his Ph.D. at the Free-Thinking University of Brussels (ULB), Belgium, where he began his academic career in the late 1990s. His global upbringing and scientific journey inform a worldwide perspective on environmental challenges, particularly climate change and plastic pollution, fueling his mission to understand and protect ecosystems and their services as foundations for a healthy and sustainable future.
Research topics
- Chemistry
- Cell biology
- Ecology
- Nanotechnology
- Biology
- Materials science
- Computer Science
- Physics
- Environmental protection
- Business
- Stereochemistry
- Organic chemistry
- Evolutionary biology
- Chemical engineering
- Genetics
- Environmental science
- Natural resource economics
- Environmental planning
- Biochemistry
- Environmental health
- Computational biology
Selected publications
Analysis of small microparticles from snow in Park City, Utah (USA): How much of it is plastic?
ChemRxiv · 2026-01-05
article1st authorCorrespondingFresh snow samples (50mL) were collected from 3 sites in the ski area and from 2 sites in the ski resort, all exposed to different levels of traffic of people. We performed epifluorescence imaging to detect small microplastics that are comprised between 1-100microns in size. Small microparticles concentrations ranged from 1,000-4,000/50mL in the ski resort, whereas these numbers ranged from 30 to 3,000/50mL in the ski area. Against expectations, the higher and most remote site contained the greatest concentrations of microparticles, which increased over the years for each site, as a possible sign to degrading air quality. As for microfibers concentrations, they ranged from 100 to 3,000/50mL in the ski resort while these numbers were lower in the ski areas, ranging from 5 to 300/50mL. These ranges remain similar across years for microfibers in the ski area as these concentrations in the snow seem to be dictated by the amount of snow fall. All the sites showed a percentage of different polymers, such as cotton (23%) and lyocell (20%), but also a variety of synthetic polymers, such as cellulose acetate (11%), nylon (11%), polyester and polyethylene terephthalate (11%), PVC (10%), polyethylene (8%), and tire wear rubber crumb (6%). In most cases, the small microparticles and microfibers were discolored in bright field (but they were seen in fluorescence) and showing weathered surface in scanning electron microscopy, suggesting their far-away source.
PROTOPLASMA · 2026-04-16
articleOpen accessSenior authorAnalysis of small microparticles from snow in Park City, Utah (USA): How much of it is plastic?
Research Square · 2026-01-19
preprintOpen access1st authorCorrespondingThe Catalogue of Life · 2026-02-17
datasetOpen access1st authorCorrespondingThe Catalogue of Life · 2026-02-16
datasetOpen access1st authorCorrespondingJournal of Phycology · 2026-03-31
articleOpen accessHeterotrophic dinoflagellates are important predators of phytoplankton, and many species produce bioluminescence, which is thought to serve as an antipredator function. The present study investigated the bioluminescence of the heterotrophic dinoflagellate Polykrikos kofoidii, an important predator of toxic and bloom-forming dinoflagellates. Its flashes were slow and dim compared to those of other dinoflagellates but with a similar spectral emission. Based on hyperspectral and laser confocal microscopy, autofluorescence consistent with that of luciferin was distributed throughout the cell, with only a few punctate sources typical of scintillons from other luminescent dinoflagellates. Polykrikos kofoidii consumed whole prey, which initially remained intact with measurable autofluorescence of chlorophyll, if plastid-containing, and luciferin, if luminescent. Polykrikos kofoidii encoded a luciferase gene with three conserved catalytic domains with an N-terminal region that appeared to contain a luciferin-binding protein-like motif. In three of the nine publicly available P. kofoidii transcriptomes, a luciferin-binding protein with homology to Noctiluca scintillans hybrid luciferase-luciferin binding domain was detected. The slow and dim flashes of P. kofoidii resulted in a bioluminescence signature that was distinct from other luminescent dinoflagellates, whereas the diffuse cellular distribution of luciferin fluorescence was unlike the punctate scintillon emission observed in previously studied luminescent dinoflagellates. This suggests that the cellular regulation of luciferin in P. kofoidii may differ from that of other dinoflagellates.
Environmental Advances · 2026-04-24
articleOpen access1st authorCorrespondingMethods in Ecology and Evolution · 2025-07-02 · 2 citations
articleOpen accessAbstract Essential to life on Earth, assessment of marine photosynthesis is of paramount importance. Photosynthesis occurs in spatially discrete microscopic entities at various levels of biological organization, from subcellular chloroplasts to symbiotic microalgae and macroalgae, and is influenced by the surrounding conditions. As such, in situ photosynthetic efficiency mapping on appropriate scales holds great promise for learning about these processes. To achieve this goal, we designed, fabricated, and tested an underwater microscope that incorporates standard colour, epifluorescence, and variable chlorophyll a fluorescence imaging with nearly micron spatial resolution that resolves the structure and photosynthetic efficiency of benthic organisms. Our results highlight coral observations with high‐resolution photosynthetic spatial variability and detailed morphology. Our imaging system therefore enables research never before possible on the health and physiology of benthic aquatic organisms in situ, placing it in the context of their physical and biological environment.
2025-04-28
peer-reviewTotal Environment Advances · 2025-03-20 · 3 citations
articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding• LAMP assess changes of the Altaussee alpine lake in geohydrology and in organismal communities facing climate change. • Lake water levels before AD 990 were up to 10 m higher, which changed due to a debris flow associated with heavy rainfall or a larger earthquake. • Lake Altaussee receives near totality of its water input from a huge karst system and is thus nearly independent of any surface flow. • Thousand-years old ancient trees are submerged standing up all over the lake bottom, as the result of a natural event still to identify. • This alpine ecosystem has been relatively stable across geological times, but with recent dramatic impacts from warming and microplastics. The oceans are well monitored for parameters that influence global weather events and that help forecast climate change. In contrast, such monitoring is not well developed for alpine lakes even though being sensitive ecosystems at the forefront of climate change impact. Here, we present the Lake Altaussee Monitoring Program (LAMP) which takes place in Styria, Austria. The monitoring was initiated in 2019, aims to be cross-disciplinary, and as of today develops along 7 major topics of interest. These topics cover hydrology, watershed science and water quality as well as geological formation and evolution of the lake ecosystem basin. LAMP takes place in a relatively remote and pristine area and thus is appropriate also to assess global pollution topics, especially related to microplastics, while also addressing response to fishes and ecosystem services, to climate change, and to global pollution pressure. This combination of geological history together with more recent and current changes, from climate to pollution, due to global growth of civilization can help tease apart the sources of change, being natural versus anthropogenic. In addition, LAMP can be used as a testbed to design or evaluate instrumentation, and to serve as an education tool for the local schools. Ultimately, these fundamental approaches of LAMP also are developed specifically to address the local community interest. LAMP is an open platform for monitoring asking for other experts to join the current team with complementary topics.
Frequent coauthors
- 49 shared
Michael C. Allen
- 24 shared
Mandë Holford
- 24 shared
Daniel Wangpraseurt
University of California, San Diego
- 23 shared
Evelien De Meulenaere
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
- 20 shared
Melissa Roth
University of California, Berkeley
- 20 shared
Seunghee Han
Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology
- 18 shared
David F. Gruber
Baruch College
- 18 shared
Farooq Azam
University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
Labs
Education
B.S.
Free University of Brussels
M.S.
Free University of Brussels
Ph.D.
Free University of Brussels
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