Advancing Microbial Sciences for Sustainability

Our Work

Microbes will be critical to achieving a more sustainable world. To address this goal, the American Academy of Microbiology created a 5-year scientific portfolio to increase the scientific understanding about the role of microbiology in sustainable development, develop global partnerships and drive market innovations.

Microbial Contributions to Sustainability

The U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a global call to action to promote “peace and prosperity for people and the planet” by 2030. As the most abundant organisms on Earth, microorganisms play an important role in all facets of human, animal and plant life and are arguably crucial in supporting humans to achieve the SDGs, such as zero hunger (SDG 2), good health and well-being (SDG 3) and clean water and sanitation (SDG 6).

As 2030 nears, developing a deeper understanding of the role of microbes for sustainable development and defining concrete scientific activities can contribute to the acceleration of science and innovation to meet the SDGs. To address this challenge, the American Academy of Microbiology (Academy) fellows announced a 5-year plan to build a Scientific Portfolio on Sustainability and Microbes starting in 2026.

The portfolio defines sustainability as the active and equitable stewardship of Earth's resource systems—anchored in the diversity of all life, including microbial life—to maintain the health and resilience of ecosystems and support human well-being for present and future generations. To keep up with these efforts and receive regular, scientific updates about the interactions between microbes and sustainability, sign up for our email mailing list.

Sustainability and Microbes Scientific Advisory Task Force

Michael J. Imperiale, Ph.D.

University of Michigan, Co-Chair

Jennifer B.H. Martiny, Ph.D.

Technical University of Denmark, Co-Chair

Rachel Armstrong, Ph.D.

KU Leuven

David E. Bloom, Ph.D.

Harvard University

Karel Callens, M.S.

FAO

Dilfuza Egamberdieva, Ph.D.

International Center for Strategic Dev. and Research, Uzbekistan

Jack A. Gilbert, Ph.D.

University of California San Diego

Sarah Glaven, Ph.D.

Princeton University

Wei Huang, Ph.D.

University of Oxford

Stanley Maloy, Ph.D.

San Diego State University

John Marken, Ph.D.

University of Copenhagen

Kit McDonnell

Superorganism

Our Approach

To achieve our vision, we will assess priority areas of microbiology research that promote specific sustainable development goals and identify challenges and opportunities for solutions.

Portfolio Goals

Accelerate science into practical solutions while promoting basic research to fuel discovery.
Establish partnerships with other scientific communities that work on the SDGs and/or related projects to identify scientific challenges that microbiologists can address.
Build bridges between academia, industry and other microbiological communities worldwide to create a scientific movement toward addressing the SDGs.

Upcoming Activities

The Academy will host the colloquium "Microbes and Sustainability: Microbes to Promote Prosperity for People and the Planet" in the fall of 2026 to kickoff the scientific portfolio. This invitation-only meeting will bring together participants with diverse expertise to understand the current landscape and knowledge gaps about microbes’ role in sustainability. The participants will identify key areas for future research and form a blueprint for priority research, which will be published in the summer of 2027.

Key Information

Who: Invited participants with expertise in agriculture, ecology, engineering, health and microbial sciences.
When: Oct. 2026.
Where: Washington, D.C.

American Academy of Microbiology Advancing Microbial Sciences for Sustainability