Microbes, Mahi and Mountains at ISME20 Auckland

By Amy Birss

ISME is back!!! Every two years the International Society for Microbial Ecology descends on a city, creating a hotspot for the kind of people who get excited about organisms you can't see with the naked eye. This year, that city was Auckland, New Zealand, which, for those of us based in the UK or Singapore, required the kind of long-haul travel that makes you question your life choices somewhere over the Indian Ocean, only to immediately forget all of that the moment you step off the plane into the crisp southern hemisphere winter.

ISME20 ran from the 16th to the 21st of August, and had over 300 presentations and plenary talks (A LOT of science). I was there representing the lab with a poster titled Exploring the Symbiotic Dance, a deep dive into my work characterising microbial community dynamics in an enrichment culture system. Presenting a poster is a unique experience: you stand in front of your life's work for hours, hoping that the right people walk past and ask the right questions. After lots of exciting conversations and new connections I settled in for another afternoon of presentations. Ed DeLong delivered what I can only describe as a masterclass in the value of patience, showcasing 38 years of sustained microbial sampling data in Hawaii, a reminder that some of the most powerful science is consistently showing up. Jack Gilbert made the case for microbial communities living on the very edge of survival, summarising keystone pieces of work throughout his career. All in all the talks had me scribbling notes and mentally filing things under "revisit this" and “this could be cool…”.  The session I was placed in, Vast seas, hidden powers: unity, diversity, and dynamics in the undersea world of marine microbes, was a good fit for the kind of questions I'm trying to ask about complex microbial communities and understanding their functional ecology. I also had the opportunity to attend a workshop run by the Steinegger Lab, Seoul National University, showcasing protein structure analysis post AlphaFold2 from the lens of a microbial ecologist. It was great getting to try out the tools and understand how such cool software actually works. 

Beyond the science, Auckland itself was excellent. The city sits between two harbours, and on the rare occasions I wasn't in a conference room, I was hit with New Zealand’s natural beauty, charm and brilliant wine. Highly recommended, even if it does take a very long time to get there.