Jean-Baptiste (JB) Raina, ARC future fellow and Deputy Team Leader of the Ocean Microbiology Group at UTS Climate Change Cluster (C3), has been honoured with the 2024 Alma Dal Co Award from the International Society for Microbial Ecology (ISME).
The Alma Dal Co award recognises early career researchers who have contributed significantly to microbial ecology, with JB recognised for his innovative approaches to uncovering crucial microbial interactions in marine environments. Notably, JB has developed custom made in situ devices for analysing symbiotic microbial interactions at spatiotemporal scales relevant to microbial cells, which has led to major breakthroughs and new methodologies that have been widely adopted by the global environmental microbiology community. These include:
- In situ chemotaxis assay: a groundbreaking platform enabling the study of microbial behaviour directly in the ocean,
- Micro-volume DNA Extraction: a technique that accurately characterises microbial communities from minimal seawater samples, and
- Single-cell Nutrient Exchange Quantification: providing detailed insights into microbial interactions at the cellular level.
Since completing his doctorate at James Cook University and joining UTS as a Research Associate in 2014, JB has been a significant contributor to the research and culture at C3. As Deputy Team Leader, his mentoring of our PhD and Early Career Researchers will continue to generate breakthrough results and further cement C3’s leadership within marine symbiosis research.