Person
Webster, Nicole (1973 - )
FAA
- Born
- 1973
Ormskirk, United Kingdom - Occupation
- Marine scientist
Summary
Dr Nicole Webster obtained her PhD from James Cook University in 2001. Her research focused on the microbial ecology of a Great Barrier Reef sponge, concentrating on how stable the symbiotic associations of numerous areas were under various stress conditions. In 2001, she received a postdoctoral fellowship with the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS). She then received a postdoctoral fellowship from the University of Canterbury and Gateway Antarctica from 2001 to 2005. Her work here looked at using microbial communities as indicators for man-made stress in the Antarctic marine environment. Webster became a research scientist at AIMS where she persisted with her research into microbial-sponge symbiosis as a sensitive model of environmental stress.
Details
"Professor Nicole Webster is a global leader in marine microbial symbiosis and has generated transformational insights into coral reef microbiology. She pioneered the application of molecular tools to study sponge microbial symbioses, discovering that sponges are a major contributor to the bacterial diversity of the world's oceans. Professor Webster elucidated mechanisms of sponge symbiont transmission, established the ecological and evolutionary drivers of sponge-microbe interactions, provided the first insights into the role of viral auxiliary metabolic genes in sponge ecology, revealed a critical role for sponge symbionts in cycling reef organic matter and provided the first insights into sponge holobiont responses to climate change." [from https://www.science.org.au/profile/nicole-webster 22/5/2025.]
Chronology
- 2025
- Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Science
Related entries
Published resources
Resources
- 'Webster, Nicole (1973-)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1540491. Details
Resource Sections
- Oakley, Cecily, 'Interview with Dr Nicole Webster, Marine scientist', in Interviews with Australian scientists, Australian Academy of Science, 2010, http://science.org.au/scientists/interviews/w/nw.html. Details
Kristijan Causovski
Created: 26 April 2013, Last modified: 22 May 2025