Professor Thulani Makhalanyane is a Full Professor at Stellenbosch University in the Department of Microbiology and the School for Data Science and Computational Thinking. He holds an MSc (cum laude) and PhD from the University of the Western Cape. His research explores the ecology of microbial communities in extreme environments including the Antarctic, Namib Desert, and Southern Ocean, with broader applications in health and climate resilience. He was the founding Chair of the DSI/NRF SARChI in Marine Microbiomics at the University of Pretoria.He has authored over 100 peer-reviewed articles with more than 5300 citations (h-index 40), published in journals such as Nature, Science, and Nature Microbiology. Professor Makhalanyane serves as Editor-in-Chief (Reviews) for The ISME Journal and Senior Editor for mSystems and Ecology Letters. He has delivered keynotes at major international conferences and held leadership roles within the International Society for Microbial Ecology (ISME),
including as Director of the ISME Ambassador Program.Among his many honours are the TW Kambule-NSTF Award, a Fulbright Fellowship, and the NRF B2 rating. He is a Member of the Academy of Science of South Africa and received the Silver Medal from the South African Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
