Lucas J Stal Editor & Author

Prof. Dr. Lucas J. Stal is a marine microbiologist and retired in 2018 as a professor of the University of Amsterdam and senior scientist of the Netherlands Institute for Sea Research. He is known for his research on marine cyanobacteria and nitrogen fixation. He investigated cyanobacterial blooms as well as marine microbial mats and intertidal diatom communities.  

Dr. Mariana Silvia Cretoiu received her education in medical microbiology and microbial ecology at the University of Bucharest (Romania) and specialized in (marine) molecular microbial systems ecology and bioinformatics. She received her PhD from University of Groningen (The Netherlands) searching for novel bacterial chitinases using metagenomics. After, she continued to work on the composition and functionality of freshwater and marine microbiomes and their associated viruses. She is currently working in the private sector applying microbiomes for commercial purposes and is affiliated to the University of Utrecht (The Netherlands).