2011 EDITION

For her work on bacterial and
material behaviour under
extreme conditions relevant to
the environment and the Earth
Life Survives even under
the Harshest Conditions
By studying the interactions of microorganisms in extreme
environments such as ore deposits, Jillian Banfield has shown
how they have adapted to hostile conditions. She elucidated
the mechanisms by which these organisms produce energy
and obtain essential nutrients from metal sulphide ore.
She also revealed how certain bacteria contribute to the
acidification process that occurs in these mines, producing
toxic wastewater that can pollute groundwater, which was
previously attributed to a spontaneous chemical reaction.
Once again, the physical and biological components of the
terrestrial ecosystem are not isolated from each other.
Professor Banfield and her students have sequenced the
genomes of the different species within this community and
catalogued the proteins they produce, fully characterizing this
unique microbial ecosystem. Their work has improved our
understanding of how life survives in even the most unlikely
places.
A Career Devoted
to Bio-Geo-Chemistry
Jillian Banfield received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in
geology from the Australian National University. She completed a
PhD in Earth and Planetary Science at Johns Hopkins University
in 1990. From 1990-2001 she was a professor in the geology
and geophysics Department and in the Materials Science
Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Since then she
has been a professor in the Materials Science Department and
the Earth and Planetary Science Department at the University
of California-Berkeley and an affiliate scientist at the Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory.
Professor Banfield has been honoured with numerous
prestigious awards, including a MacArthur Fellowship (1999-
2004), the Dana Medal of the Mineralogical Society of America
(2010), and a John Simon guggenheim Foundation Fellowship
(2000). She was elected to the U.S. National Academy of
Sciences in 2006.
JILLIAN
BANFIELD
IN HER OWN
WORDS
INTERCONNECTIVITY
AS A SOURCE OF HOPE
If she were allowed just one word
to describe what she hopes to
contribute to the world of research,
Jillian Banfield would choose
“interconnectivity” – perhaps her way
of saying that nothing happens in a
vacuum. In a world where actions
and reactions are interrelated, her
research underscores how each
phenomenon influences and is
influenced by others and thus the
importance of interconnectivity.
“I have a lot of hope that science
can provide answers, such as new
sustainable technologies, innovative
medical treatments, strategies for
carbon sequestration, etc.”
URgENT NEED FOR
SUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLES
From her interdisciplinary
perspective, Professor Banfield
places a premium on sustainability.
“We are changing the biosphere in a
complex manner with unpredictable
results. Finding ways to live
sustainably within our environment,
without destroying it, seems to me to
be the most urgent challenge facing
our planet today.”
THE VALUE OF WOMEN’S
PERSPECTIVE IN SCIENCE
Professor Banfield welcomes the
movement in recent decades to
facilitate the access to scientific
careers for women. She also
recognises the value of women’s
perspective in science: “It seems
clear to me from personal experience
that women approach problems
differently from men. I suspect that
women tend to see things more
holistically and be less forceful in the
ways in which they offer opinions.”