Professor Belinda Ferrari

Biography

I am currently the Associate Dean Research in the Faculty of Science. Previously, I was Deputy Head of School and the Director of Research in the School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences. My research area is environmental microbiology and I specialise in uncovering Antarctica's soil biodiversity by performing discovery-based and applied research. I am passionate about integrating 'omics' with innovative cultivation methods to the isolate and describe the diversity and functional capacity of 'extreme' microbial communities. By doing so, my team discovered a previously overlooked  carbon fixation process where  bacteria literally ‘live on thin air’. We coined this microbial-based process ‘atmospheric chemosynthesis’ and published these findings in the prestigious journal Nature. My team also works on using microbes as indicators of soil health, for the assessment of ecosystem recovery during bioremediation and for developing site-specific ecotoxicity assessments. My future goals are to continue to challenge our understanding of the nutritional limits and the boundaries of life, while training the next generation of confident scientists.

I am a supportive, approachable supervisor with my team being comprised of a high number of PhD and Honours students

• Uncovering the diversity of novel secondary metabolites in polar soils - Nicole Benaud, PhD; Completed 2020
• Residual toxicity and bioremediation of soils at Casey station, Antarctica - Sarita Pudasaini, PhD; Completed 2020
• Isolation and characterisation of Candidatus Dormibacteraeota (AD3) in Antarctic soil- Kate Montgomery, PhD; Completed 2021
• Understanding drivers of the nitrogen cycle in pristine and hydrocarbon contaminated polar soils - Sally Crane, PhD
• Microbial diversity and drivers of community assembly across east Antarctica - Eden Zhang, PhD; Completed 2021
• Mapping the global significance of atmospheric chemosynthesis - Angelique Ray, PhD; Completed 2022
• Microbial community shifts after a decade of change in the Windmill Islands, east Antarctica - Sin Yin Wong, PhD
• Microbial bioactives and elucidating their role in Antarctica - Carolina Gutiérrez-Chávez, PhD; Completed 2022
• Cultivation and characterisation of ammonia oxidising Archaea from Antarctic Enrichments – Devan Chelliah, PhD
• Ecotoxicity assessments of aged hydrocarbon contaminated soils at Casey station - Jessica Dai, Honours; Completed 2021
• Can Candidatus Eremiobacterota be cultivated? - Dana Tribbia, Honours; Completed 2021

Leadership and Service

• UNSW Sydney, Associate Dean Research, Faculty of Science 2022-
• UNSW Sydney, Deputy Head of School and Director of Research, School of BABS, 2018 - 2022
• UNSW Sydney, University Promotion Committee (A/Prof) 2018 - 2020
• UNSW Sydney, Senior Lecturer Promotion Committee, Faculty of Science 2017-2018
• International Scientific Committee Member for Polar and Alpine Microbiology conference, 2019
• Australian Microbiome Scientific Co-ordination Working Group, 2019 - current
• UNSW Sydney, Faculty of Science Board member, 2018 - current
• Royal Society of New Zeakand, Marsden Fund, Panelist Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour, 2017-2019
• Academy of Sciences National Committee for Antarctic Research, 2012-2016