Lucie Malard

Dr. Lucie Malard is a microbial ecologist and Principal Investigator at the University of Geneva, where she leads the MicroAdapt Lab as an SNSF Ambizione Group Leader. Her research focuses on microbial biogeography and diversity in extreme environments, particularly Alpine and Polar regions. She integrates fieldwork with advanced molecular techniques to study microbial community assembly, adaptation, and responses to climate change.

Her research interests include:

• Microbial ecology in extreme environments
• Biogeography and distribution of microorganisms
• Metagenomics and metatranscriptomics of soil and airborne communities
• Microbial adaptation to environmental change
• Climate change impacts on polar and alpine ecosystems

The recent publications highlight a consistent focus on microbial community dynamics across environmental gradients, with an emphasis on bacteria, archaea, fungi, and protists in cold ecosystems. Her work combines field sampling across the Arctic, Antarctic, and Alps with high-throughput sequencing to uncover patterns in microbial diversity, niche partitioning, and dispersal mechanisms. A strong trend in modeling and predicting microbial distributions under climate change is evident.

Scientific awards include:

• SNSF Ambizione Fellowship

Dr. Malard advises graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, and her lab is involved in externally funded projects such as the SNSF-funded 'Secret Invasions' project on microbial invasions in the Arctic. She has received funding from the EU (Horizon2020), SNSF, British Antarctic Survey (BAS), and SPI, supporting extensive field campaigns in Greenland, Svalbard, Iceland, and South Georgia. Her collaborative network includes institutions in Switzerland, the UK, and internationally.

She leads the MicroAdapt Lab at the University of Geneva, which investigates how microbial communities adapt to extreme and changing environments, with a focus on gene expression shifts and colonization dynamics.