Indiana University Bloomington welcomes Stephen Giovannoni, University Distinguished Professor of Microbiology at Oregon State University, for the 2024-25 Pace Lecture. His lecture, “Microbial Life in Low-Nutrient Ocean Deserts,” is April 16 at 3:30 in Biology Building 100A.
Dr. Giovannoni is a renowned molecular microbial ecologist who has focused his career on the study of microorganisms in the marine environment. He was a postdoctoral scientist in Norman Pace’s lab at Indiana University when that lab developed many of the foundational approaches that revolutionized microbiology, leading to what we now know as microbiome science. Dr. Giovannoni utilized, developed and extended these approaches for the marine environment, and among many other groundbreaking findings, identified one of the most numerous bacteria in the ocean, called SAR11 (now known as Pelagibacter ubique), which for many years could not be cultivated.
Dr. Giovannoni founded Oregon State's High Throughput Cultivation Laboratory, which pioneered automated methods for isolating and studying the elusive microbes that often dominate natural ecosystems, enabling the cultivation of P. ubique. His research team has continued to make major contributions studying the marine bacteria that drive carbon sequestration and deoxygenation in the ocean.
“Steve is an amazingly insightful and energetic scientist, with a real passion for microbiology and an incredible persistence in studying what at times seem intractable problems of microbial community dynamics,” said Clay Fuqua, Clyde Culbertson Professor of Biology.
The IU Department of Biology's Pace Lecture Series, established in 2018, honors IU alumnus and former Distinguished Professor of Biology Norman R. Pace. Pace’s influential contributions to biochemistry and microbial ecology include the co-discovery of catalytic RNAs and foundational work in metagenomics and microbiome research. The lecture series brings esteemed scientists to IU Bloomington to discuss innovative research that continues Pace’s legacy.
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