Bio
Dr. Omy Ogbughalu obtained her Bachelor of Science degree (Hons) in Applied Microbiology from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, and her Master of Science degree with Biotechnology major, from The University of Queensland, Brisbane. She worked as a Microbiologist in the foods, water, and environments laboratories before returning to academia and obtaining her Doctorate degree from the University of South Australia, Adelaide. During her PhD, she developed a multibarrier microbio-geochemical mechanism for pyrite oxidation control; a critical step towards the use of microbes for sustainable long-term acid rock and tailings drainage mitigation through source control.
Currently, she is an Integrative Microbiomics Postdoc in Dr. Melissa Cregger's lab, and her research seeks to understand microbial structures, dynamics and co-habitation strategies employed across different domains, in response to anthropogenic stress and changing climate condition. She uses a suite of molecular and computational biology tools to establish the impact of environmental disturbances on their inhabiting microbes as well as on their across-kingdom association networks, in order to identify changes that can potentially alter their biogeochemical processes and threaten our fundamental knowledge of biogeochemical cycling and ecosystem functioning. She is also evaluating the impacts of viruses on major microbial domains - archaea, bacteria, algae, and fungi, that are stimulated as a result of these disturbances within their shared environments.
Awards
2014 to 2018 - Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship
2014 to 2017 - Australian Research Council (ARC) and living expenses Scholarship
2014 to 2017 - Research project funding – Teck Resources, Canada
2017 - School of Natural and Built Environment PhD completion Scholarship
2009 - Dean c’s List and Commendation for high achievement (University of Queensland)
Media appearance and interviews
2023 - Women Alliance Council (women in STEM), ORNL, “Your story matters” video clip, ORNL Women Leadership Workshop for International Women’s Day
2022 - Oak Ridge National Laboratory, News Magazine, “Why Science”, Vol. 55, No. 2
Education
Doctor of Philosophy - The University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
Master of Science - University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Bachelor of Science (Hons) - Nnamdi Azikwe University, Awka, Nigeria