More information about the authors, news and events regarding the society can be found on the Protistology-UK website ( protistology. org.uk ). What inspired you to get involved in protistology research? Fiona: During my honours project I started working on Toxoplasma gondii and I was fascinated by these tiny eukaryotic cells that could invade mammalian cells. During my PhD and postdoc I met researchers who were amongst the first to characterise protist life cycles and their role in the environment – this consolidated my enthusiasm for such fascinating micro-organisms. Sonja: I used to work on metazoan fish parasites, but then my postdoc supervisor, Professor Brian Leander at the University of British Columbia, Canada, introduced me to protists. Roughly since 2007, I was hooked, with a focus on a specific protist group, the gregarine apicomplexans. There are a lot of species described, some of which I actually described, but there is still so much to learn about these fascinating organisms. Anastasios: During my PhD studies I was introduced to the evolutionary cell biology field, where I was studying the adaptations of various single-celled parasites. A few years later, after attending my first protists’ meeting, I was really fascinated about the diversity, biology and adaptations of these organisms, which subsequently triggered my interest to work with them. Why is it important to be part of a membership society like Protistology-UK and the Microbiology Society? Fiona: Both societies are very welcoming and provide a great source for networking, news and skills development. Sonja: Membership societies provide you with the opportunities to interact with your research community. While it is clear that there is a lot knowledge exchange going on, e.g. at conferences, it is often the small conversations that you have or new people you meet that spark new research projects. There is also a lot of support offered, especially for young researchers to help them with their career paths, networking, skills development, and monetary help to attend scientific meetings, which are all extremely valuable Anastasios: Both societies provide great opportunities for networking and diversification of knowledge.
Sonja Rueckert Associate Professor in Marine Biology/ Parasitology, School of Applied Sciences & Centre for Conservation and Restoration Science, Edinburgh Napier University, Sighthill Campus, Edinburgh EH11 4BN, UK
s.rueckert@napier.ac.uk @SonjaRueckert
Anastasios Tsaousis Reader and Principal Investigator in Molecular and Evolutionary Parasitology, School of Biosciences, University of Kent, Giles Lane, Stacey Building, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NJ, UK
A.Tsaousis@kent.ac.uk @ADTsaousis
All authors are currently elected committee members of Protistology-UK, a society that aims to promote the study, teaching and dissemination of all aspects of protistology, from ecological to medical and from subcellular to population studies. We have formed a long-term partnership with the Microbiology Society, which so far has proven successful in bringing together and sharing knowledge between communities for the benefit of our memberships.
71 Microbiology Today October 2022 | microbiologysociety.org
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