Burak A. Erkorkmaz was previously a PhD student investigating the diversity and functionality of microorganisms transported by dust storms in the Eastern Mediterranean, under the guidance of Prof. Yinon Rudich in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the Weizmann Institute. He holds a BSc in Food Engineering from Uludag University, Turkey and MSc in Bioengineering from Marmara University, Turkey.

In his PhD work, Burak employed metagenomics methodologies to address fundamental inquiries regarding the potential impacts of microorganisms carried by dust, and the environmental factors that influence the atmospheric microbiome. Burak has suggested that certain microorganisms may be capable of surviving during atmospheric transport. Therefore, his investigations turned to focus on elucidating the ecological consequences of dust storms by examining aerosol samples for potential pathogenic microbes and investigating the associated functions related to pathogenicity.