Our Team

I am Professor for Microbiology at the the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences (BEES). My research has focused on understanding the central role that microbial communities (microbiomes) play in influencing the performance and health of higher host organisms, in particular in the marine environment.

I have a broad interest in the areas of environmental microbiology, marine ecology and biotechnology. My recent work in these areas aims to gain a better understanding of the interactions between marine microorgansims and their eukaryotic hosts from both an ecological and cellular/mechanistic perspective. 

Dr. Michelle Allen's research spans molecular biology, environmental microbiology, ‘omic technologies and bioinformatics, with a particular emphasis on using large scale genomic and metagenomic datasets to understand, characterise and interrogate microbial communities in diverse "extreme" environments.

I am a marine microbiologist working on microbiomes and probiotic solutions.

As part of my postdoctoral position, I aim to understand the abundances of filter-feeding sponges and ascidians that produce nitrous oxide via their associated microbiota and measure nitrous oxide production by these species under different climate change conditions. 

I am a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Egan's lab working on marine microorganisms with a PhD in Plant Science and Microbiology and a Master’s in Agricultural Biotechnology. During my study, I have established a novel screening method and curated a collection of over 600 soil rhizosphere bacterial isolates. 

My current research is looking at the microbial community characteristics in terms of identity, complexity and biogeography, of the conjunctiva and eyelid using both traditional microbial culture and culture-independent DNA analysis (sequencing of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene) to determine what constitutes the core and transient microbiome of the eye and how microbial communities change over time. 

I am a PhD student fascinated by the interaction between microbes and their invertebrate hosts. I moved to Australia for my PhD after I finished my master's degree in Taiwan studying coral microbiology.

I am a part time PhD student, studying externally based in Townsville. My research interests centre mainly on coral biology, reef ecology, and adaptation to climate change. Using a mixed-methods approach, I investigate the interactions between reef taxa from the cellular to the ecosystem level. 

I completed my undergraduate degree in Biotechnology at UNSW, followed by an Honours year in Virology. After taking time off to travel, I returned to begin a PhD in Microbiology and Marine Biology.

Alessandro is an Adjunct Fellow at UNSW. He completed his PhD at the University of New South Wales, where he investigated the metabolism of microbial symbionts in deep-sea sponges, combining metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, and stable isotope labelling. After finishing his PhD, Alessandro stayed in Sydney to take up a postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of Sydney. His current work focuses on microbial adaptations to climate extremes in agricultural soils, particularly the role of intracellular carbon and phosphorus storage.