University of Canterbury microbiologist Dr Mitja Remus-Emsermann from the School of Biological Sciences has won the UC Early and Emerging Career Researcher Award 2018.
Dr Remus-Emsermann’s research is at the interface of microbiology, ecology and plant sciences. His research goals include understanding how bacterial communities assemble on plant leaves and which factors drive the spatial structure of bacterial communities.
This research has important implications for life sciences generally, and the agricultural sector in particular. Understanding how bacterial communities are spatially structured will result in critical information for future approaches to select natural plant leaf colonising bacteria that are able to prevent plant pathogen colonisation and disease outbreaks in agricultural environments.
Dr Remus-Emsermann is already a recognised expert in this field and a regular reviewer for high impact journals. He has an outstanding record of publication, especially so given he obtained his doctorate in early 2012. He was appointed as a lecturer in UC's School of Biological Sciences in May 2016, and as an Associate Investigator at UC’s Biomolecular Interaction Centre in January 2017.
