Researcher biography

From a PhD in 1994 at the University of Queensland, Phil Hugenholtz developed a career in microbiology and genomics in the USA and in Australia. Phil's last position in the USA was as Staff Scientist (2004-2010) at the DOE Joint Genome Institute. In late 2010 Phil returned home to establish the Australian Centre for Ecogenomics. The Centre was founded around himself as Director, and ARC QEII Fellow and Deputy Director, Dr Gene Tyson. Phil has published over one hundred papers in molecular microbial ecology including several Science & Nature papers.

Currently, Phil's research interests include the microbial ecology and evolution of host-associated ecosystems such as the termite hindgut and human microbiome, and genomic mapping of the microbial tree of life. In 2006, Phil received the Young Investigators Award from the International Society of Microbial Ecology (ISME) and was elected in 2012 as a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology (AAM).