Rate My Professor Ashley Franks

Professor Ashley Franks is the Professor of Applied and Environmental Microbiology in the Department of Microbiology at La Trobe University, where he also holds the position of Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research Capability). He established the Franks Lab for Applied and Environmental Microbiology, which investigates microbial community structure and functions at interfaces, including those with plants, soils, microbiomes, electrodes, sewer systems, and submarines. Franks earned his PhD in marine microbial ecology from the University of New South Wales, during which he received the Adrian Lee Fellowship and collaborated with Exeter University in the UK. Following his doctorate, he was awarded a Government of Ireland Fellowship in Science, Engineering and Technology at the National University of Ireland, University College Cork from 2005 to 2007, focusing on microbial interactions in the plant rhizosphere as part of the European Union Pseudomics project. He then joined the Geobacter Project at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, serving as Senior Research Scientist from 2007 to 2008 and Assistant Professor (Research) from 2009 to 2011, where he led projects in the Extracellular Electron Transfer Group and collaborated with institutions such as the Naval Research Laboratories, Cornell University, the University of Toronto, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and Harvard University.