Professor Janet Jansson receives the 2026 ISME Tiedje Award

The International Society for Microbial Ecology (ISME) has named Professor Janet Jansson as the recipient of the 2026 Tiedje Award, recognising her outstanding lifetime contribution to microbial ecology and her lasting influence on the field.

A pioneer in the use of multi-omics approaches to study complex microbial communities, Professor Jansson has made several landmark discoveries that have reshaped understanding of how microbes respond to environmental change. Her research revealed how disturbances such as oil spills and climate change alter microbial ecosystems, and she was among the first to apply molecular techniques to explore the human gut microbiome and its links to health and disease.

The award will be formally presented at ISME20, the 20th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology, to be held in Auckland, New Zealand, from 16 to 21 August 2026. During the meeting, Professor Jansson will deliver a plenary lecture reflecting on her career and scientific legacy.

Across her distinguished career, Jansson has held senior roles at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Michigan State University, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, where she served until her retirement in 2021. She continues to contribute to the scientific community as a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, the Washington State Academy of Science, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and has advised on numerous panels including the White House Microbiome Initiative, the US National Academies of Sciences, and NASA.

Professor Jansson’s recognition places her among a distinguished list of previous Tiedje Award recipients, including Norman Pace, Sallie Chisholm, Nancy Moran, and Michael Wagner.