1996, BSc in Biochemistry, University of Otago, New Zealand; 2001, PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University; postdoctoral work, University of Colorado, Boulder. 2004, Faculty, interdisciplinary BioFrontiers Institute, University of Colorado, Boulder. 2015, joined University of California, San Diego to direct the new Microbiome Initiative; currently, Professor of Paediatrics and Computer Science & Engineering. Work focuses on using readout technologies such as next-generation sequencing to improve understanding of the structure, function and dynamics of the human microbiome, contributing to the main data analysis in the NIH-funded Human Microbiome Project. Author of Follow Your Gut: The Enormous Impact of Tiny Microbes. Co-Founder: Earth Microbiome Project; American Gut Project. Current research interests include relating the human microbiome to diseases ranging from obesity to mental illness, spatial and temporal mapping of microbial communities on different scales ranging from bodies to planet, and developing new data visualization methods that assist in resolving the challenge of microbial “Big Data”.