Dr Barbara Drigo

Dr Barbara Drigo conducted her doctoral studies at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) in the Netherlands and was awarded her PhD in 2009 at the University of Leiden. Her PhD research used a number of interrelated methods in molecular microbial ecology to study the effects of climatic conditions on plant-soil-microbial interactions. While waiting for her PhD thesis defence (Feb 2018- Jan2019), she worked as a project manager for Plant Research International at the Wageningen University & Research Centre. Shortly after, she moved to the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment (HIE) at Western Sydney University. At the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment (HIE), I contributed to numerous research projects focussing on (i) the effect of climatic changes (drought and elevated atmospheric concentrations of CO2) on plant-soil-microbial interactions and (ii) rehabilitation of degraded lands using microbial bio-amendments. In August 2016, she became a lecturer/research fellow (equivalent to US Assistant Professor) with the Future Industries Institute (FII). Since joining UniSA’s Future Industries Institute (FII) in 2016, she has led the molecular microbial component of several research projects on food, soil and water safety and security in Australia and Pacific islands (total funding $3.931M). Her research was featured at the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Science, the White House Office of Science and Technology, the Royal Geographical Society in London, Proceeding of the National Academy of Science USA, ISME Journal and in Trends in Ecology and Evolution and many other media. Her research was awarded by the American Society of Microbiology (ASM) and the International Society of Microbial Ecology (ISME) and, she was invited as a visiting scientist in several institutions including University of Oxford (UK), Uppsala University (Sweden), Chinese Academy of Science (China), James Hutton Institute (UK) and Australian National University. Since 2015, she is an eXXpedition ambassador. In this role, a key focus has been to build a global network of multidisciplinary women who can contribute to world-class scientific studies. The eXXpedition achievements have been highlighted by Time Magazine, the BBC, CNN, ABC, SKY News and many other media. In 2016 and 2017, the research she collaboratively conducted into the effect of human activities on ecosystem functioning was featured at the White House Office of Science and Technology (Barack H. Obama II administration), the Royal Geographical Society and other media. In 2016, she was invited to attend the Theo Murphy Australian Frontiers of Science Symposium on ‘The Microbiome: Exploring the role of microorganisms in ecosystem processes and health’. In 2018, she established the Joint Academic Microbiology Seminars (JAMS) in Adelaide and the ‘500 Women Scientists’ in Australian and New Zealand. Both are multi-award-winning non-profit organisations devoted to supporting early and mid-career microbiologists and women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) respectively.

2018  Invited guest editor on the special issue in Mycorrhizal Microbiomes in Mycorrhiza.

2012-14 Editorial board member for Frontiers Microbiology in Terrestrial Microbiology.

2012-current   Served as a grant reviewer in microbial ecology for the European Commission Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions, the US National Science foundation, the Israel Science Foundation, the French National Research Agency, the Research Foundation Flanders and the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research.

2007- current  Regular invited reviewer for numerous highly ranked journals such as Nature Climate Change, Nature Microbiology, Nature Scientific Reports, Proceeding for the National Academy of Science (PNAS), ISME Journal, Global Change Biology, Environmental Microbiology, Ecology Letters, New Phytologist etc.

Professional memberships

Society member of the International Society for Microbial Ecology (ISME), the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), the Australian and New Zealand Society for Microbiology (ASM), European Ecology Federation (EEF) and Ecological Society of Australia (ESA).

Media engagement

The research I collaboratively conducted into the effect of climate change and human pollution on terrestrial and marine microbial communities was featured at University of Michigan (August 2016), Global News Canada (August 2016), at the White House Office of Science and Technology, at The National Microbiome Initiative (June 2016), Newcastle Herald (May 2016), the Ecologist (February 2016), the Royal Geographical Society in London (2015-2016), Chinese Central Television (2015), SBS (2015), BBC (2015), Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA (2010), the National Dutch television network (2010), and the RAI radio-television network (2010).

Qualifications

• Doctor of Philosophy Universiteit Leiden

Work history

1. Research Fellow/Lecturer, Future Industries Institute, University of South Australia, South Australia, Australia. 2016 – current.

2. Visiting Lecturer, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, China. 2015.

3. Research Fellow, Soil Biology and Genomics, Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Sydney, Australia. 2014 – 2016.

4. Research Fellow, Soil Biology and Genomics, Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Sydney, Australia. 2009 – 2013.

5. Research Fellow, Plant Research International, University of Wageningen, Wageningen, the Netherlands. 2008 – 2009.

6. Adjunct Postdoctoral Research Fellow, The James Hutton Institute, Aberdeen, United Kingdom. 2009.

7. Project manager, Plant Research International, University of Wageningen, Wageningen, the Netherlands. 2008 – 2009.

8. Doctorate in Biology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology, University of Leiden and Wageningen University, the Netherlands. Jan 2004 - Jan 2008. Awarded 21 January 2009.

9. Adjunct PhD, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK. 2004 - 2005.

10. Plant Genomics European Internship, University of Wageningen (the Netherlands) and University of Trento (Italy). Sept 2002 - Dec 2003.

Dr Barbara Drigo is currently  leading the molecular microbial component of several projects directly relevant to this proposal on food, soil and water safety and security in Australia and Pacific islands (total funding $3.93M):

• $793K Horticulture Innovation Australia (HIA) Research Grant aiming to improve the safety of vegetable produce by enhancing irrigation water quality (2017– 2020).
• $2,8M Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) - Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) proposal on One Health AMR surveillance program in Fiji (2020-2023).
• $337K PI or joint CI on several internal/industry funded grants (2017-2020).