“Discoveries made in microbiology have far-reaching impacts in diverse fields.”
It was Josh Ramsay’s natural problem-solving abilities that led him to study Microbiology and Immunology. He is now pursuing a research career in molecular microbiology, which he sees as the “engineering” of the biological sciences.
“There are lots of fun things to experiment with and unique problems to solve. And the rise in popularity of synthetic biology and continuing evolution of technology mean there is an increasing number of ways in which to solve them.”
Josh is excited about the potential for future research, combined with the freedom to design and manage his own projects. As a student, he enjoyed the way postgraduate study allowed him to work on projects that would really make a difference in the world.
“From the perspective of scientific outcomes, microbiology is critical for all forms of life. Discoveries made in microbiology have far-reaching impacts in diverse fields such as human health, agriculture and even the mining industry.”
After completing his PhD he took up an academic role at Curtin University, teaching molecular microbiology and the evolution of infectious diseases. He also conducts research on the horizontal gene transfer that occurs between both pathogenic and non-pathogenic organisms. Recently he has been focusing on the transfer mechanisms of antibiotic resistance genes.
“My degree covered wide-ranging aspects of both animal and bacterial genetics, however it was enthusiastic research scientists in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology that helped solidify my interests in microbial genetics. Now as a lecturer, I get to teach my favourite parts of my Otago degree to a fresh crop of students!”
