The Royal Netherlands Society for Microbiology (KNVM) recognizes m-CAFEs principal investigator Jillian Banfield with the ‘2023 Van Leeuwenhoek Medal’ for her impactful contributions to the understanding of complex microbial communities and their interaction with the environment.
Her pioneering work on groundbreaking technologies such as genome-resolved metagenomics and community proteomics to study diverse communities of bacteria, archaea, and phages, has led to the addition of complete new branches to the tree of life. Her remarkable research has allowed tremendous advances to the field of environmental microbiology impacting our view of the functions of microbial communities in a wide variety of environments ranging from soils and deeper aquifers to the human gut, thereby bridging environmental and medical microbiology. More information about Banfield’s work and award.
Banfield is a professor at the University of California Berkeley (Earth and Planetary Science, Environmental Science, Policy, and Management) and senior faculty scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Earth and Environmental Sciences and Biosciences Areas). She is the Director of Microbiology at the Innovative Genomics Institute.
“Our team is thrilled that Jill has been recognized for her enormous contributions to microbiology. Jill is a scientific pioneer and visionary, so far ahead that it often takes years before the field recognizes the significance of what she’s done,” says Trent Northen, Senior Scientist at Berkeley who is the Laboratory Research Manager for the m-CAFEs SFA.
It is our pleasure to announce that Prof. Jillian F. Banfield from the University of California, Berkeley, has been awarded the ‘2023 Van Leeuwenhoek Medal’https://t.co/r9aWWAcwDo@BanfieldLab @UCBerkeley @ASMicrobiology
— KNVM (@KNVM_online) February 10, 2023
Rarely bestowed every 10-12 years, since 1875, this prestigious honor is for outstanding contributions to science / society / outreach in the field of microbiology worldwide, independent of the stage in their career. This is the first time in the existence of the award that a woman has been acknowledged. The independent jury was led by Han Wösten; and the Royal Netherlands Society for Microbiology is chaired by Marien de Jonge. The award ceremony will be held during the KNVM Scientific Spring meeting 2023 of the Royal Dutch Society for Microbiology in Papendal, Netherlands on Wednesday 5th April.
Smithsonian Record ID: edanmdm:nmah_961877
Data Source: National Museum of American History
