It’s been a busy few months since our last update, so bare with me as I try to recount everything from August until now. Firstly, fresh off her PhD submission and newly minted doctorate, Angelique wasted no time publishing her first paper as a postdoctoral fellow of the Ferrari lab. The paper, titled “Atmospheric chemosynthesis is phylogenetically and geographically widespread and contributes significantly to carbon fixation throughout cold deserts,” was published in ISME in early August and, through phylogenetic- and activity-based analyses, concludes that "atmospheric chemosynthesis is a globally-distributed phenomenon with significant implications for the global carbon cycle and bacterial survival within environmental reservoirs.” Click here to read more!
Screenshot of Angelique’s announcement on Twitter.
Following this publication, after years of delayed and cancelled ceremonies, Nicole was finally able to celebrate her PhD graduation. Despite completing her PhD in 2019, Nicole had to wait until this August to formally graduate (thanks, COVID) and, through a lucky coincidence, was able to celebrate alongside incoming Honours student, Georgia, who was graduating from a Bachelor of Psychological Sciences (Management). Congradulations to Nic and Georgia!
Dr. Nicole Benaud and Georgia looking great on their graduation day!
On September 13th, our lab had the pleasure of attending the 11th JAMS annual symposium and dinner, which took place at Sydney Luna Park. This year Belinda was invited as a guest speaker and gave a great presentation outlining the lab and the work we do, as well as sharing some breathtaking photos and amusing anecdotes from her time in Antarctica - two critical features of any Ferrari lab presentation. In addition to Belinda’s talk, Jordan gave the first public seminar of her PhD candidacy, where she shared the findings from her Honours year, while Devan presented a poster detailing his analysis of the connections between Antarctic microbial communities and the features of their ecosystem. JAMS also served as a welcome two new lab members: Kevin, who joins us as an Honours student, and Merle, who has come to the lab from Germany as an Academic exchange student for the term.
Jordan (left) and Devan (right) sharing their great work at JAMS 11 ☆
Soon after JAMS, Belinda, Jordan and Kris took a quick trip to Hobart to visit our friends from the Australian Antarctic Division to discuss potential bioremediation projects for Jordan and Kris. Investigating bioremediation strategies for Antarctic soils is really important to our lab and we’re really glad to be expanding our contribution to building a cleaner Antarctica and mending the damage that humans have done to its ecosystems.
The work our lab does gives us a front row seat to the toll that science and research can have on the environment and so we couldn’t have been happier to see the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF) program be introduced in UNSW. If this is the first time you’re hearing of LEAF, it is a program that aims to reduce the enviromental impact of research by promoting sustainable practices in labs and providing tools to monitor and reduce their ecological impact. Labs can receive bronze, silver or gold certification by implementing the practices associated with each tier and, thanks to Jordan’s exhaustive efforts, we were able to meet every criteria of the silver tier. At the LEAF awards ceremony on December 2nd, we were one of only four UNSW labs to be awarded with a silver certification which we couldn’t have been more proud of. The LEAF program is an awesome initiative and we highly recommend that you, dear reader, look into getting your lab involved today. Next year we’ll definitely be aiming for gold and so should you be! Click here to see the UNSW LEAF website where you can learn more about LEAF and how to register (even if you’re not a UNSW lab).
Last, but most certainly not least, the lab went for lunch at the Chinese Gardens of Friendship to celebrate the end of the year, to farewell Merle (whose three month tenure in our lab has been far, far too short) and congradulate Belinda and her dear friend and “PhD buddy” Dr. Michelle Power on their promotions to professor, starting in January next year. Wonderful food, a great view and a beautiful day: what more could you want from a lunch celebration.
It goes without saying that the food and gardens were a fantastic backdrop for such an occassion.
And that’s it for 2022! I hope you enjoyed reading about our last 6 months and you can look forward to hearing more from us next year!
Merry Christmas, happy holidays and happy new year!