Her topics of scientific interest include: study of the presence and activity of microbial communities in northern high organic ecosystems, with different molecular methods (metatranscriptomics, SIP, microarray, FISH, microscopy) in situ, in controlled laboratory experiments and in pure cultures; A culture collection of native methanotrophs from different latitudes used for physiological and taxonomic studies; Novel approaches for isolation of methanotrophs from the environment; Arctic and Sub-Arctic field studies in wetland areas, Ny-Ålesund, Spitsbergen, Svalbard and Neiden, Finnmark.
Mette is an internationally recognized expert on methods for isolating and cultivating methane oxidizing bacteria. She previously held a focus on methane oxidising bacteria in cold terrestrial systems.