Rate My Professor Verlaine Timms

Dr. Verlaine Timms is a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Environmental and Life Sciences at the University of Newcastle. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of New South Wales. As a microbiologist, she focuses on microbial genomics of environmental communities, utilizing 'omic technologies including whole genome sequencing, metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, and metaproteomics. Her research examines microbial ecology across various systems, with particular interests in bacterial iron metabolism and antimicrobial resistance. She investigates microbiomes from diverse environments such as mosquitoes, flying foxes, wastewater treatment plants, natural water reservoirs, rivers, dams, aquaculture ponds, particle pollution, eucalyptus leaves, koalas, and mines, aiming to enhance planetary and human health through better understanding of environmental antibiotic resistance and local microbial communities.

Prior to joining the University of Newcastle in 2021, Dr. Timms was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Molecular Microbiology at Westmead Hospital from 2015 to 2021. Her expertise significantly impacted infectious disease outbreak control in Australia, particularly for respiratory diseases including COVID-19, Legionellosis, and pertussis. She has served on national and state expert groups such as the Communicable Disease Genomics Network and the NSW Genomics Implementation Plan. At Newcastle, she manages the microbial communities team in the Neilan Lab's Microbial and Molecular Diversity group, leads the Synthetic Microbial Communities Theme for the ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology, and serves as Deputy Theme Leader of the Host, Habitat and Infection theme in the HMRI Immune Health Program. Dr. Timms has secured grants totaling $324,011 across seven projects, including The Deadly Duo of Antibiotic and Biocide Bacterial Resistance ($81,224, Ramaciotti Foundations, 2024-2027) as lead investigator and Bioprospecting Novel Metabolites in Gut-Associated Microbes of Australian Stingless Bees ($25,000, ARC CoESB, 2025). Key publications include 'The impact of anthropogenic activities on antimicrobial and heavy metal resistance in aquatic environments' (Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 2025), 'Eco-friendly zinc oxide nanoparticle biosynthesis powered by probiotic bacteria' (Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 2025), '16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing data from an Australian wastewater treatment plant' (Microbiology Resource Announcements, 2024), and 'Seasonal and Spatial Dynamics of Fungal Leaf Endophytes in Eucalyptus crebra (Narrow-Leaved Ironbark)' (Microbial Ecology, 2024).