Congratulations to all those that won an IJSEM Prize at BISMiS 2018!
29 May 2018
Congratulations to Marike Palmer, Raúl Riesco Jarrín and Kgothatso Chauke for winning an IJSEM Prizes in their categories at BISMiS 2018.
Earlier this year, International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology (IJSEM) sponsored the annual meeting for Bergey's International Society for Microbial Systematics (BISMiS 2018) in Johannesburg, South Africa. This was the 4th international meeting of its kind and provided an invaluable forum for scientists from across the globe to discuss the future of bacterial systematics.
Judged by the journal’s Editorial Board and presented by Editor-in-Chief Martha Trujillo the journal awarded three prizes; winners were given £150 cash prize and one year’s free membership to the Microbiology Society. Following the conference, we caught up with the winners below:
Best Scientific Oral communication, Post doc: Marike Palmer
For her talk, 'Phylogenomic analyses: the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.’
Who or what inspired you to be a scientist?
My family always encouraged my curiosity and allowed me to form my own opinions. At some point I realised that I knew too little to develop informed opinions, particularly in terms of the microbial aspect of life. This naturally drew me towards microbiology and I have been hooked since.
What are you currently working on and what area of your research excites you the most?
I am currently working on incorporating phylo- and comparative genomics into prokaryotic systematics and how this genomic information can provide insight into the evolution of cohesive species. The most exciting aspects of my current research entail trying to link functional divergence with the evolutionary divergence based on genomic sequences.
How would you explain your talk to a child under 10?
We attempt to describe the history of existing organisms. As the organisms are made up of different components, we would assume that different components of the same organism tell us the same story. However, this is not the case; different components tell us different parts of the same story.
What would you be doing in your career if you weren’t a scientist?
Although I have many external interests and hobbies, I cannot imagine my life without science. I might have ended up in a different scientific field, like marine biology, engineering or maybe astronomy, but no science would not have been an option.
Best Scientific Oral communication, Student: Raúl Riesco Jarrín
For his talk entitled ‘Defining the species Micromonospora saelicesensis and Micromonospora noduli under the framework of genomics.’
Who or what inspired you to be a scientist?
Well, I have to thank several people for that. Firstly, my parents; my father is a school teacher and he always encouraged me to learn and think outside the box. On the other hand, my PhD tutor, Martha Trujillo, showed me the beauty of microbiology research in my degree.
What are you currently working on and what area of your research excites you the most?
I’m currently working on the ecology and systematics of plant related bacteria of the genus Micromonospora, mostly focusing on bioinformatics. I think the best part of my work is probably the taxonomy, it’s a field that is changing right now, and seeing these changes on a first-person basis is very exciting.
How would you explain your talk to a child under 10?
That’s a tricky question! I think the best way to teach children is by practice. In fact, one of the members in our group likes to participate in educational activities for children. One of her activities was to extract your own DNA from saliva using conventional soap and salt. I think I’ll use that as reference and try to explain that all species, from animals to bacteria, differ on DNA.
What would you be doing in your career if you weren’t a scientist?
Well, I would probably try to work as a teacher, because I always admired my father’s work, but I would also like to work in a company as an environmental advisor.
Best Scientific Poster: Kgothatso Chauke
For her poster ‘The genetic characterization of Streptomyces isolates causing fissure scab on potatoes in the Limpopo province.’
Who or what inspired you to be a scientist?
I attended a Young Women in Science seminar at Tshwane University of Technology (Pretoria Campus), where they gave detailed, interesting information about various scientific fields, including biotechnology. They gave me a very clear understanding of what biotechnology is, its importance to our communities, how it can help eradicate poverty and improve the lives of our community, which is something very close to my heart. Following the seminar, I decided to enrol to study Biotechnology and pursue it to this day.
What are you currently working on and what area of your research excites you the most?
My study is focused on Streptomyces isolates causing fissure scab on potatoes in South Africa. Isolation of Rhizoctonia is also done to verify that the disease on sampled potatoes is indeed caused by Streptomyces since they both cause similar symptoms on potatoes. Molecular studies and taxonomy are the most interesting parts of my research. They are quick, thus saving time and are not labour intensive like field work is.
How would you explain your poster to a child under 10?
To a child under 10 years, I would say fissure scab is a potato disease that causes cracks on potatoes. If potatoes have cracks this show that they have a disease. Potatoes with cracks were checked to see which germ (bacteria) caused it to be ill. By cutting small pieces from the diseased area of the potato and putting them on media (a gel that have food for the bacteria to be able to grow), it is possible for us to know what it is. Once we knew the identity of the bacteria, we could find its relatives (its ancestors), by checking how similar they are.
What would you be doing in your career if you weren’t a scientist?
I would be a mining engineer, working as an inspector in a mine ensuring safety of mine workers.
