Jillian Banfield


Jillian Fiona Banfield is professor at the University of California, Berkeley with appointments in the Earth Science, Ecosystem Science and Materials Science and Engineering departments. She is the director of microbiology at the Innovative Genomics Institute, is affiliated with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and has a position at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Some of her most noted work includes publications on the structure and functioning of microbial communities and the nature, properties and reactivity of nanomaterials.

Early life and education

Banfield was educated at the Australian National University where she completed her bachelor's and master's degrees both examining granite weathering. She attributes her initial interest in geomicrobiology to Dr Tony Eggleton who drew her attention to processes at the earth's surface, mineral weathering and the regolith.
Banfield graduated with a PhD in Earth and Planetary Sciences from Johns Hopkins University for high-resolution transmission electron microscopy studies of metamorphic reactions supervised by David R. Veblen.

Career and research

Banfield is an earth scientist who studies the structure, functioning and diversity of microbial communities in natural environments and the human microbiome.
Banfield was a Fulbright Student in Medicine from the to in 1988, and a in 1999. She has been a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1990 to 2001 and the University of Tokyo.
Since 2001, she has been a researcher and professor at the University of California Berkeley where she heads the geomicrobiology program and works as a researcher at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Her research as of 2021 spans field sites in Northern California to Australia and covers subjects at the intersection of microbiology and geosciences, including genome-resolved metagenomics, genome editing tool development, astrobiology and microbial carbon capture.
In 2006, Banfield encouraged Jennifer Doudna to study CRISPR after finding the sequences pervasive and rapidly evolving across bacterial genomes..
In 2023, Banfield became the first woman to win the Leeuwenhoek Medal from the Royal Dutch Society for Microbiology, an award that has been given roughly every 10 years since 1875 to honor scientists who have made outstanding contributions to science, society and outreach in the field of microbiology.

Work

Genome-Resolved Metagenomics

Banfield pioneered the development and application of genome-resolved metagenomics, a technique that allows for the reconstruction of individual genomes from complex microbial communities without the need for cultivation. This approach significantly expanded our understanding of microbial diversity and evolution.

Tree of Life Expansion

Through her work in genomics, Banfield's research group has provided insights into previously unknown bacterial and archaeal lineages. This has led to a substantial revision and expansion of the Tree of Life, adding entire new branches known as Candidate Phyla Radiation, reshaping our understanding of microbial evolution:

Microorganism-Mineral Interactions

Banfield has made significant contributions to understanding how microorganisms interact with minerals. This includes studies on how these interactions can lead to the production of nanomaterials and influence geochemical cycles.

Microbiome Community Editing

Banfield's research has expanded to include innovative approaches for editing microbial communities, with applications in human health and climate change mitigation. In collaboration with Jennifer Doudna, Banfield has developed groundbreaking techniques for precision microbiome editing. Their work combines genome-resolved metagenomics with CRISPR genome editing to enable targeted modifications of specific genes in complex microbial communities. In 2023 they launched a $70 million initiative to apply microbiome editing to address global challenges in human and planetary health. For human health applications, the research focuses on editing the microbiome to prevent childhood asthma and other inflammatory diseases. In climate change mitigation efforts, the team is targeting methane-producing microbes in livestock to reduce agricultural methane emissions.

Honours and awards