Staffan Kjelleberg has been elected as an ISME Fellow in recognition of his outstanding and sustained contributions to the Society and the field of microbial ecology. To celebrate this well-deserved honour, we spoke with Staffan about the pivotal moments in her career, the most important opportunities in microbial ecology, and the role of microbial ecology in addressing global challenges.
What has been the most pivotal moment in your career, and why?
The most significant pivotal development of my career must be the opportunity to propose and establish a nationwide research centre for biofilms and microbiomes in Singapore. This Research Centre of Excellence, funded by the National Research Foundation, was named the Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering (SCELSE). This centre studies microbial ecology in diverse ecosystems and includes stakeholders from government agencies, universities, institutes and industry.
SCELSE integrates biology, engineering, chemistry, physics and computational science and technologies for addressing nationally and globally significant topics, and thereby delivers mechanistic insights with real-world impact. Over the past 15 years, we have elucidated the molecular basis of microbial responses and resilience, thereby providing expertise needed to safeguard human, animal, and environmental health.
SCELSE was one of the founding partners in an international network of excellence in biofilms and microbiomes, which included centres in Europe, the UK, and the USA.
Looking ahead, what do you see as the most important challenges or opportunities in microbial ecology?
Microbial ecology will play a major role in One Health approaches. One Health is an integrated, collaborative approach that recognizes the interdependency of human, animal, and environmental health. It brings together multiple disciplines to tackle complex threats like zoonotic diseases, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and climate change. This provides a unique capability to connect molecular mechanisms, ecosystem dynamics, and community-level outcomes within a single framework, which aims to deliver balanced and optimised ecosystems.
By treating the One Health framework as a single, microbially linked system, we will be in a position to unravel how microbial interactions provide benefits. This mechanistic insight will also enable us to develop next-generation tools for microbiome management. By using ecosystem-based strategies that integrate molecular techniques, microbiome and genomic data, it will be possible to ensure planet health in the future amid rapid global change.
The challenge ahead is to move from eradication to modulation of the microbial community across host and environmental ecosystems. This can be achieved by reshaping microbial networks to promote community stability and resilience. This approach can utilize numerous ecological mechanisms, biological tools, and microbial engineering.
How do you see the role of microbial ecology in addressing global challenges (e.g. climate change, health, sustainability)?
Microbial ecology is at the core of understanding all ecosystems, and hence microbial ecology approaches are essential for not just current but also future global challenges.
Indeed, microbial ecology is the discipline that addresses the interrelationships of microorganisms in diverse ecosystems across humans, animals, plants, and the environment. Our task is to strengthen microbial support systems using ecological principles. For example, such approaches are essential for agriculture, aquaculture, and hence the global food supply chain.
New approaches must identify microbial mechanisms as well as examine the broader whole ecosystem by integrating molecular science, systems biology, and big data. Rather than analysing static microbial communities, future approaches will utilise dynamic systems that integrate variables including genomic, environmental, spatial, temporal, and health-related variables. Moreover, advanced AI will be essential for the integration of these approaches.
Prof. Staffan Kjelleberg is internationally renowned for his research into microbial biofilm and microbiomes for environmental, engineering, and public health applications, and for addressing natural and urban ecosystem stability and sustainability. Kjelleberg has established two world-leading biofilm research centres – the Centre for Marine BioInnovation (now Centre for Marine Science and Innovation; University of New South Wales, Australia; est. 1994) and the Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering (SCELSE; Nanyang Technological University Singapore/National University of Singapore; est. 2011) – centred around the concept of multidisciplinary research. Further, Kjelleberg co-founded and co-led Singapore’s national marine science platform (as deputy director, Marine Science R&D Programme (2015-2022); and was the technical director, Marine Climate Change Science programme (est. 2022), also ensuring environmental microbiology is well integrated across Singapore’s marine science R&D. Currently, Staffan Kjelleberg is an Emeritus Distinguished University Professor at the Nanyang Technological University, Professor at School of Biological Sciences, NTU and is also the Advisor and Research Director (Microbial Biofilms) of SCELSE.
The ISME Fellows Program honors members who have made outstanding and sustained contributions in service to the Society and to the broader advancement of microbial ecology. The program recognizes individuals whose volunteerism, leadership, and engagement have significantly strengthened ISME’s mission, visibility, and community impact.