Congratulations to our new Associate Professor!

It is my great pleasure to announce that Belinda Ferrari has been successful in her applications for promotion to Associate Professor, effective 1 January 2018.

Belinda joined BABS as a Senior Lecturer in 2008 as part of the Environmental Microbiology discipline. Her research focus is microbial diversity of soil bacteria in the Antarctic region in collaboration with the Australian Antarctic Division. In recent years, Belinda has headed the School’s Industry Outreach Committee, and this year was successful in being awarded a prestigious ARC Future Fellowship, which she will take up at the beginning of 2018.

FEMS 2017; the 7th Congress of European Microbiologists.

In July, Nicole Benaud was fortunate enough to attend FEMS 2017; the 7th Congress of European Microbiologists, held in the beautiful city of Valencia, Spain. The congress focused on antimicrobial resistance and infections, sustainability and climate change.

Nicole presented the results of recent work by Ferrari Lab members (herself and Eden), with a poster titled ‘Harnessing Long Read SMRT Sequencing Technology for Natural Product Gene Discovery in Polar Desert Soils’.

Image: Nicole looking proud next to her poster. Image taken by Nicole.

Chinese Academy of Science

Congratulations to Dr. Mukan Ji for successfully landing a research position at the highly competitive Chinese Academy of Science. He is currently on a 2-week field trip to collect samples in Tibet! 

Image: Potola Palace in Tibet. Image taken by Mukan Ji.

ARC Future Fellowship

A huge congratulations to Dr. Belinda Ferrari, a successful applicant for the highly competitive ARC Future Fellowship award. 

Atmospheric carbon fixation: a novel microbial process in Antarctic soils. This project aims to challenge our global understanding of carbon fixation. In most ecosystems, phototrophy supports higher-trophic life, yet no genetic evidence for photosynthesis exists in Antarctic desert soils. The project will determine the significance of atmospheric chemotrophy, a microbial driven process based on the consumption of atmospheric gases that it is proposed supports energy maintenance and biomass assimilation in nutrient-starved Antarctic desert soils. Additionally, the project will establish if these processes are structuring soil microbial communities, particularly in response to climate change. The expected project outcome is knowledge of primary production at the nutritional limits of life. This should provide significant benefit, such as a shift in our knowledge of the biological sciences as a new minimalistic mode of primary production.

News at the Ferrari Lab

As Mukan Ji prepares for his final presentations as part of his PhD, the Ferrari Lab welcomes Angelique Ray, who will be undertaking her Honours year in 2017. 2016 Honours student Eden Zhang is back and begins her PhD! Undergraduate lab assistant Lucien Alperstein has started a small research project as part of his coursework for Advanced Science (Microbiology) under the wing of PhD candidate Nicole Benaud.

The lab also welcomes closer ties with UNSW's Centre for Astrobiology. The Centre focuses on interdisciplinary research into the origin and evolution of life on Earth and throughout the universe.

Graduation

Congratulations to Sally Crane and Eden Zhang, who graduate from an MPhil (Biotechnology) and Honours (Biotechnology) respectively! Both Sally and Eden have plans to stay with the Ferrari Lab and begin PhDs in 2017.

Sally Crane, Belinda Ferrari and Eden Zhang, post-graduation. November 2016.

PhD candidate Sally Crane presents at SETAC-AU

Congratulation to Sally Crane, who presented at the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) Australia conference in Tasmania earlier this month.  Sally presented her work on the FuelTox Pipeline: microfluidic qPCR for microbial ecotoxicology in soil. 

PhD candidate Sally Crane to attend SETAC Singapore and Hobart conferences

Sally Crane will attend the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) Asia/Pacific 2016 conference at the National University of Singapore this September. Sally, who focused on residual fuels during bioremediation at Macquarie Island for her MPhil, will also attend the SETAC-AU conference to be held in Tasmania in October.

MPhil candidate Sally awarded student travel scholarship to attend the BioInfoSummer workshop

Congratulations to Sally, who has been awarded a student travel scholarship to attend the BioInfoSummer workshop in Melbourne.

Belinda Ferrari wins Best Supervisor at PGC awards!

This year Ferrari Lab Director Belinda Ferrari scooped the top prize at the Postgraduate Council (PGC) Supervisor Awards and was awarded a PGC Outstanding Supervisor Award. 

Only three supervisors receive this award each year, and this is the first time BABS has won the top prize!

Belinda was presented the award by Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research Training) and Dean of Graduate Research Professor Laura Poole-Warren, and will be featured in the PGC and Graduate Research School Newsletters. 

The award recognised Belinda's outstanding dedication to both her role as supervisor and her wider activities within the University. Belinda's lab team is both very lucky and very proud!