91Â鶹ÌìÃÀ

Denise M. Akob, Ph.D., is an interdisciplinary microbiologist at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) who works at the interface between microbiology, biogeochemistry and hydrogeology to address critical questions in environmental microbiology. She has worked in a variety of systems, from contaminated ecosystems to pristine groundwaters and soils, as well as gut microbiomes. Her projects span scales from regional and site-level processes to microbial isolates to genes and enzymes. By working across systems and disciplines, she has built a flexible research program publishing over 70 papers on bioremediation, microbe-metal interactions, subsurface biodiversity, acetylenotrophy and environmental effects of energy development.  

Akob has served as Chair of 91Â鶹ÌìÃÀ’s Council on Microbial Sciences (COMS), participated on the Strategic Framework Task Force and held roles as President and Councilor of the Washington, D.C. Branch of 91Â鶹ÌìÃÀ. She was Chair of the 2025 Applied and Environmental Microbiology Gordon Research Conference. Akob serves on the editorial boards of Applied and Environmental Microbiology ²¹²Ô»å FEMS Microbiology Ecology. Her dedication to scientific excellence and service was honored with the USGS Early Career Leadership Award in 2017 for outstanding service and scientific achievements in representing the agency. She is a self-described “microbial cheerleader” and “science mom” who is passionate about supporting the broad community of microbial sciences through collaboration and service. 

Akob obtained her Ph.D. in biogeochemical oceanography from Florida State University, and then served as a Marie Curie postdoctoral research fellow at Friedrich Schiller University Jena. She joined the USGS in 2012 as the head of the Reston Microbiology Laboratory.