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Rachael Lappan

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Rachael Lappan

Dr

 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3543-8243
20182026

Research activity per year

Personal profile

Biography

Dr Rachael Lappan is an ARC DECRA Fellow (2023 - 2025) and Group Leader in the Department of Microbiology in the Biomedicine Discovery Institute. Rachael has a background in microbiology and microbial ecology, and completed her PhD in 2019 at the University of Western Australia in Perth, where she led a study on the microbiome of ear infections in children.

Moving to Melbourne to begin a postdoc in Professor Chris Greening's lab, Rachael broadened her expertise across human and environmental microbiology using One Health approaches for disease surveillance. As a postdoc in the RISE Program, she led the development and use of a TaqMan Array Card approach for enteric pathogen detection in human, animal and environmental samples.

In the Greening Lab, she has built a profile of work focusing on microbial communities that use atmospheric trace gases as an energy source in a range of environments. In 2022, she received the Australian Society for Microbiology's Jim Pittard Early Career Award for her achievements in microbiology.

In 2023, Rachael received an ARC DECRA Fellowship (receiving the Australian Academy of Science's J G Russell Award for top-ranked DECRA applications) and was appointed a Group Leader in the Department of Microbiology to study microbial communities in the atmosphere itself. Her research program aims to determine the nature and activity of the atmospheric microbiome, how this ecosystem contributes to human and environmental health, and to explore its role in seeding new ecosystems in unique settings including meteorites and glacier forelands. She is currently an Associate Investigator in the ARC Special Research Initiative Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future. Rachael collaborates across health, biological and earth sciences and has extensive fieldwork, laboratory and bioinformatics experience.

Education/Academic qualification

Microbiology, Doctor of Philosophy, Using 'omics technologies to understand pathogenesis and seek alternative therapies for otitis media in children, University of Western Australia

2015 → 2019

Award Date: 8 May 2019

Microbiology, BSc (Hons), University of Western Australia

2011 → 2014

Award Date: 23 Mar 2015

Research area keywords

  • Microbiome
  • Metagenomics
  • Microbial ecology
  • Ecosystems
  • Aerobiology
  • Geobiology

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  1. SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
    SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
  2. SDG 13 - Climate Action
    SDG 13 Climate Action
  3. SDG 14 - Life Below Water
    SDG 14 Life Below Water
  4. SDG 15 - Life on Land
    SDG 15 Life on Land

Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years

Recent external collaboration on country/territory level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots or
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  • Unveiling unique soil microbial adaptations and biogeochemical processes across drylands in seven continents

    Leung, B. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Lappan, R. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Ricci, F. (Chief Investigator (CI))

    2/04/26 → 1/04/31

    Project: Research

  • SAEF: Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future – An Evidence-Based, Informatics Approach

    Chown, S. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Robinson, S. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Wilson, K. A. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Mackintosh, A. (Chief Investigator (CI)), McGeoch, M. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Bode, M. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Helmstedt, K. J. (Chief Investigator (CI)), McGregor, H. V. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Arblaster, J. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Duffy, G. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Greening, C. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Henley, B. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Siems, S. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Cressie, N. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Kaye, S. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Barthelemy, J. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Zammit-Mangion, A. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Dunbabin, M. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Gonzalez, L. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Mengersen, K. L. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Strugnell, J. M. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Cassey, P. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Clark, G. F. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Terauds, A. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Stark, J. S. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Hua, Q. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Meredith, K. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Stevens, M. I. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Wilson, N. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Smith, J. (Partner Investigator (PI)), McLennan, S. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Lim, E. (Partner Investigator (PI)), DeConto, R. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Brooks, C. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Cowan, D. A. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Charman, D. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Maclean, I. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Bollar, B. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Barbour, M. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Fraser, C. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Flexas, J. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Zuniga, G. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Olalla-Tarraga, M. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Balco, G. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Norton, K. P. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Njåstad, B. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Vaughan, D. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Kessick, M. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Lynnes, A. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Adams, M. (Chief Investigator (CI)), McCormack, F. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Wheeler, M. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Weller, J. (Project Manager), Selwyn Jones, R. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Whitmore, R. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Fülöp, R.-H. (Partner Investigator (PI)), McLennan, S. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Amirghasemi, M. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Rhodes, J. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Lappan, R. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Janion-Scheepers, C. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Liggett, D. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Wege, M. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Henley, B. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Suter, L. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Greve, M. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Kleshnina, M. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Lee, J. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Waterman, M. (Chief Investigator (CI))

    La Trobe University, University of Sydney, University of Cape Town

    19/05/20 → 14/06/30

    Project: Research

  • Comprehensive and source-agnostic pathogen surveillance across reservoirs

    Lappan, R. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)) & Greening, C. (Supervisor)

    31/12/26 → 31/12/28

    Project: Research

  • Microbial life in the atmosphere

    Lappan, R. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI))

    ARC - Australian Research Council

    1/01/23 → 31/12/25

    Project: Research

View all 20 research outputs