معرفی
Christa Schleper serves as Professor at the Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, University of Vienna, where her pioneering archaea research bridges evolutionary biology and environmental science. Her landmark cultivation of Asgard archaea provided the first visual evidence of cytoskeletal structures in prokaryotes, revolutionizing understanding of eukaryotic origins and Earth's evolutionary trajectory.
Academic Journey
- BSc/MSc Biology, RWTH Aachen University
- Additional Studies, University of Konstanz
- PhD Microbiology, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
- Research Positions: Caltech, UC Santa Barbara, University of Bergen, TU Darmstadt
Research Vision
- Evolutionary significance of Asgard archaea as eukaryotic ancestors through genomic and cultivation approaches
- Archaeal contributions to soil nitrogen cycling and sustainable agriculture solutions
- Discovery of Nitrososphaera viennensis, the first ammonia-oxidizing archaeon cultured from soil
Scientific Recognition
- ERC Advanced Grant (2016) for breakthrough in Asgard archaea cultivation
- FWF Wittgenstein Award (2022), Austria's highest scientific honor
Schleper leads an international research consortium conducting field studies from Arctic hydrothermal vents to Danube River sediments. Her six-year effort to culture Asgard archaea enabled unprecedented cryo-EM imaging of complex cellular structures. She actively collaborates with Fridays for Future to translate microbial insights into climate solutions, emphasizing that "without archaea, we wouldn't exist" and that understanding these microorganisms is crucial for both evolutionary comprehension and environmental sustainability.
