Microbial ecology in New Zealand
In addition to his own specific research interests, Mike Taylor is passionate about the development of microbial ecology (and microbiology in general) in New Zealand and beyond. He is currently President of the NZ Microbiological Society (NZMS), Co-Convenor of the NZ Microbial Ecology Consortium (NZMEC), Board Member of the International Society for Microbial Ecology (ISME) and Chair of the Organising Committee for the upcoming ISME symposium in Auckland in 2022. He was also Chair of the joint meeting of the NZMS and NZ Society for Biochemistry & Molecular Biology in 2010, which attracted ~330 registered attendees, a member of the organising committee for the 2017 NZMS meeting and for the 2020 joint meeting of the NZMS and Australian Society for Microbiology.
New Zealand Microbial Ecology Consortium (NZMEC)
In 2009, Mike and Dr Matthew Stott from GNS Science (now at University of Canterbury) established and continue to co-convene the NZMEC. Formally speaking, NZMEC represents the Microbial Ecology Special Interest Group of the NZ Microbiological Society (NZMS). The aim of the NZMEC is to facilitate interaction and collaboration among NZ-based microbial ecologists, and to disseminate relevant information such as job opportunities and upcoming meetings. Biennial NZMEC meetings, which are kept free of registration charges thanks to generous sponsorship, include seminars by some of the world’s leading microbial ecologists, and workshops on topics such as statistics for microbial ecology, and next-generation sequencing for microbial diversity studies. Previous plenary speakers have included such notable microbial ecologists as Jill Banfield, Craig Cary, Ed DeLong, Ian Dickie, Noah Fierer, Phil Hugenholtz, Catherine Lozupone, Mike Manefield, Jennifer Martiny, Hugh Morgan, Maureen O’Malley, Steve Pointing, Jim Prosser, Gerald Tannock, Gene Tyson, Nicole Webster and Tanja Woyke. Our next meeting (NZMEC6.0) is scheduled for February 2020. Please email Mike (mw.taylor@auckland.ac.nz) or Matt (matthew.stott@canterbury.ac.nz) if you are interested in joining or just learning more about NZMEC.
Microbial ecology research in New Zealand
A 2016 review article by Matt Stott and Mike Taylor highlights the vibrant nature of microbial ecology research in NZ. Please email Mike (mw.taylor@auckland.ac.nz) if you would like to receive a copy of the article.
Stott, M.B. & Taylor, M.W. (2016) Microbial ecology research in New Zealand. NZ Journal of Ecology 40: 12-28.