Professor Joana Falcao Salles named as winner of Basil Jarvis Award
Professor Joana Falcão Salles, Professor of Microbial Community Ecology at the University of Groningen, has been named the winner of the Basil Jarvis Food Security and Innovation Award as part of the Applied Microbiology International Horizon Awards 2025.
The Horizon Awards celebrate individuals, teams, and organisations whose work is shaping the future of applied microbiology. The Basil Jarvis Award recognises those making outstanding contributions to food safety, security, and sustainable agricultural practices, highlighting innovations that have a tangible impact on global food systems.
Professor Falcão Salles is internationally recognised for her research on soil and host-associated microbiomes. An agronomic engineer trained in Brazil, she earned her PhD at Leiden University in the Netherlands and completed postdoctoral research in Lyon, France. Her work integrates ecological theory with experimental and computational tools to understand how microbial diversity underpins ecosystem resilience, disease suppression, and sustainable agriculture.
She has made pioneering contributions to the study of microbial invasions and shown how plant genotypes can shape beneficial microbial interactions, helping to reduce dependence on chemical inputs. By connecting microbiome ecology with sustainable farming, her research bridges fundamental science with practical solutions for farmers and policymakers.
Since 2020, Professor Falcão Salles has served on the Executive Board of the International Society for Microbial Ecology (ISME) and has coordinated several European and national research projects. Her team at Groningen includes 13 PhD students, 3 postdoctoral researchers, and several master’s students, and she has mentored more than 20 PhD candidates over the course of her career.
“I am deeply honoured to receive the Basil Jarvis Food Security and Innovation Award,” she said. “This recognition underscores the significance and potential of soil and plant microbiomes in fostering sustainable food production. By uncovering how these hidden microbial networks contribute to soil health and crop resilience, we move closer to building agricultural systems that are both productive and environmentally responsible. I am grateful to my colleagues, collaborators, and students, whose dedication and creativity make this work possible.”
The Basil Jarvis Award reflects AMI’s commitment to advancing microbiology for global good, recognising research that addresses food security, climate resilience, and ecosystem health.
Read the full list of 2025 Horizon Award winners on The Microbiologist