Microbial Diversity Aims to Endow Two Lectureships

The Microbial Diversity Course at the Marine Biological Laboratory, celebrating 50 years, proudly announces their campaign to raise $50,000 to establish two endowed lectures: The Holger W. Jannasch Endowed Lecture in Microbial Diversity and The Abigail Salyers Endowed Lecture in Microbial Diversity. The lectures will be held annually as components of the Microbial Diversity course at the MBL.

Holger W. Jannasch, PhD, (1927-1998) was a marine microbiologist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, former MBL Trustee and member of the MBL Corporation, and a director and faculty member of the Microbial Ecology and Marine Ecology courses (the precursors to Microbial Diversity) at the MBL. His main interests were the growth of microorganisms in the sea, the existence of microbes at the low temperature and high pressure of the ocean depths, and the microbial processes taking place at hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor. It was Dr. Jannasch who discovered hydrothermal vents. He was the first director of the Microbial Diversity Course.

Abigail Salyers, PhD, (1942-2013) was a research scientist, author and professor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Her research focused on bacteria in the intestinal tract contributing to better understanding of antibiotic resistance and mobile genetic elements. She is arguably one of the pioneers of the study of the human microbiome. She received the Pasteur Award for Research and Teaching, was named the G. William Arends Professor in Molecular and Cellular Biology and served as president of ASM. She was was a member of the MBL Corporation and served as a director of the Microbial Diversity course at the MBL in the 1990s.