Upon an invitation by Dr. jianzhong
Sun and Dr. Weilan Shao from Biofuels Institute at Jiangsu University, on
August 8-9, 2013, Dr. Juergen Wiege, a member of the
American Academy of Microbiology and Distinguished Research Professor of the
University of Georgia, USA, made an academic visit to Biofuels Institute of
Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, P. R. China. Within his two days’ stay, Dr.
Juergen toured the facility at biofuels Institute of Jiangsu University and
delivered two consecutive interesting and impressive presentations: “Extreme
places and extremophiles” and “How to Give an Effective Seminar”. These
seminars were very impressive and welcomed by professors, professionals, and graduate
students from School of Environment and Biofuels Institute of Jiangsu
University who attended the seminars.
With respect to the seminar for extremophiles, Dr. Wiegel defined the concept
of extremophiles, and its classification for various bacterial groups, and also
demonstrated his research data during the past two decades in his laboratory to
support the hypothesis regarding the relationships between different kinds of bacterial
extremophiles and their living environments. In honor of his eminent work and
contribution on the extremophiles, many novel species of extremophiles that he
first identified were named with his last name, e.g. Thermoanaerobacterium wiegeliii.
In his speech, Dr. Wiegel also summarized the salt tolerance mechanisms
of some extremophiles newly found to be able to grow under the combination of
high salt content, high pH, and high temperature, the so called halophilic
alkalithermophiles. His research work on these microorganisms, including the
acetogenic, anaerobic, and thermophilic cellulolytic bacteria that may be
relevant to the ethanol or butanol fermentation processing, has clearly demonstrated
a significant perspective both in the science and its potential industrial application.
After presentation, he also had a discussion with our professionals and
graduate students on some research topics we may potentially develop the
collaboration in the future.
Following the talking mentioned above, Dr. Wiegel further delivered an
interesting presentation titled as “How to Give an Effective Seminar” for the
purpose of improving a speaker’s capability to give a successful presentation
in an international conference or job interviewing. During his two hours’
presentation, Dr. Wiegel specifically detailed how to give an effective seminar
from the perspectives of outline design, visual solution, speech style, body
language, time control, etc. and further provided some useful tips for question
and answer strategies dealing with seminar audience. It is highly appreciated by
those attendees who participated in this seminar because they actually learned
a lot from his systematic and energetic presentation.
Dr. Juergen Wiegel is a distinguished research professor at University
of Georgia, USA, and a member of the American Academy of Microbiology. He has
ever served for numerous editorial boards on some scientific journals, as well
as some panel members for either national or international committee. Dr.
Wiegel has conducted some exploring investigations on the microorganisms that
are involved in important biochemical transformations. More recently, he found
a group of novel extremophiles being able to grow under the combination of high
salt, high pH, and high temperature (halophilic alkalithermophiles), which constitute
a novel order, Natranaerobiales. Dr. Wiegel also named many novel genera and
species of extremophiles, e.g. Thermoanaerobacterium
wiegelii, which has been chosen with his last name to honor his
contribution. His contributions also include that he described the family
Clostridiaceae and Prokaryotes sections in the first and second editions of
Bergey’s Manual of Systematic Bacteriology. Owing to his outstanding
contribution in science, he was awarded a “Bergey Award” at the International
Union of Microbiological Societies in 2008.
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