Farooq Azam

Farooq Azam
Born
Lahore, Pakistan
NationalityPakistani-American
Alma materUniversity of Punjab
Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences
Scientific career
FieldsMarine Biology and Microbiology
InstitutionsUniversity of California San Diego, United States

Farooq Azam (born in Lahore, Pakistan ) is a researcher in the field of marine microbiology. He is a distinguished professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography of the University of California, San Diego.[1] Farooq Azam grew up in Lahore and received his early education in Lahore. He attended University of Punjab, where he received his B.Sc. in chemistry. He later he received his M.Sc. from the same institution. He then went to Czechoslovakia for higher studies. He received his PhD in microbiology from the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. After he received his PhD, Farooq Azam moved to California. Azam was the lead author on the paper which coined the term microbial loop.[2] This 1983 paper involved a synthesis between a number of leaders in the (then) young field of microbial ecology, specifically, Azam, Tom Fenchel, J Field, J Gray, L Meyer-Reil and Tron Frede Thingstad.

In addition to introducing the concept of the microbial loop Azam is responsible for bringing conceptual advances in several areas of marine microbiology. He is a leader in identifying the importance of microscale patchiness in the marine environment, and that bacteria can respond to patchiness in nutrient fields and particulate organic matter. This area of research is now pursued more actively in the field at large with the introduction of advanced digital and single cell imaging. He and then graduate student Kay Bidle also showed that the dissolution of diatom frustules was accelerated by bacteria, as opposed to being a strictly abiotic process as previously thought.[3] He and former post-doctoral researcher Alexandra Worden introduced the concept of Eco-systems Biology in 2004.[4] Eco-systems Biology (or Ecosystems Biology) has since been adopted by the field, empowered by the advent of high-throughput sequencing platforms.

Honors and awards

References

  1. ^ "Bio, Farooq Azam". Archived from the original on 2007-07-14. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
  2. ^ Azam F, Fenchel T, Field JG, Gray JS, Meyer-Reil LA, Thingstad F. (1983). “The ecological role of water-column microbes in the sea”. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 10: 257-263
  3. ^ Regulation of oceanic silicon and carbon preservation by temperature control on bacteria. Bidle KD1, Manganelli M, Azam F. Science. 2002 Dec 6;298(5600):1980-4.
  4. ^ Oceanography. Microbes, molecules, and marine ecosystems. Azam F, Worden AZ. Science. 2004 Mar 12;303(5664):1622-4.
  5. ^ ASLO Award Recipient Talks, Archived 2011-07-20 at the Wayback Machine American Society of Limnology and Oceanography. Accessed September 1, 2010.
  6. ^ G. Evelyn Hutchinson Award, Archived 2009-08-28 at the Wayback Machine American Society of Limnology and Oceanography. Accessed September 1, 2010.
  7. ^ a b Scripps Oceanography Microbiologist Receives Honors, University of California at San Diego news release, June 2, 2004. Accessed September 1, 2004
  8. ^ Awards. International Society for Microbial Ecology. Accessed September 1, 2010
  9. ^ Memorial lectures Archived 2010-07-05 at the Wayback Machine, Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University. Accessed September 1, 2010
  10. ^ G. Evelyn Hutchinson Award, Archived 2009-08-28 at the Wayback Machine American Society of Limnology and Oceanography. Accessed September 1, 2010. Award citation: "in recognition of his seminal contributions to our knowledge of fundamental processes in the sea, and particularly for his central role in the development of the concept of the 'microbial loop'".