Background
I am a microbiologist and ARC DECRA Fellow studying microbial life in the atmosphere. I began my academic career in human microbiology, and have since broadened my research interests into environmental microbiology, astrobiology and geobiology. Through my DECRA research, I am to characterise the nature and activities of microbes in the atmosphere across a range of environments, including the Southern Ocean and Antarctica. Antarctica provides a unique environment to study microbes under a combination of challenging conditions for life, and to investigate the formation of new ecosystems in glacier foreland areas.