Professor Andrew Macrae

IAS Fellow at Grey College, October - December 2025

Contact Details

• Home Institution email: andrewmacraeufrj@gmail.com 
• Durham email: TBC
• Durham Tel: TBC

Professor Andrew Macrae has a BSc degree with honours in Natural Environmental Science / Earth Science from the University of Sheffield (1993) and a PhD in Soil-Plant-Microbe Interactions from the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne (1998). He is the Principal Investigator of the Sustainable Biotechnology and Microbial Bioinformatics Laboratory at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) in Brazil where he has been tenured since 2002. He was the Coordinator of the Postgraduate Research Program in Plant Biotechnology and Bioprocesses (PBV) from 2014-2020. In December of 2024, PBV hosted the 8th International Conference on Plant Biotechnology, an annual event organized by Professor Macrae and team since 2014. He is concurrently the Coordinator of International Relations (Associate Dean) at the Health Sciences Center at UFRJ and a member of the University Council for International Relations 2014-ongoing. From 02/2020-07/2022 he was the Technical Coordinator (Associate DVC Research and Postgraduate Studies) of UFRJ’s CAPES PRINT project. As well as leadership and management roles Professor Macrae actively researches microbial biodiversity and microbial biotechnology in soils, plants, rivers, oceans, and sediments. His lab is currently working in three industrial partnerships:

1. to develop bioaccelerators for mangrove forest restoration and conservation;
2. investigating how plants and microbes can be used to manage agricultural soil microbial diversity and function;
3. identifying and testing microbial probiotics for plant health. His research is motivated by the WHO's One Health vision and is allied to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.

His research and teaching seek to transfer knowledge that helps improve and remediate natural and anthropic environments. Professor Macrae sees internationalization as essential to enrich students’ lives, by exchanging knowledge and culture through collaborations and partnerships between universities, governments and with private enterprises. As an Associate Dean he coordinates the Centre for Health Sciences outreach program and leads on collaborations in Perth (UWA, MU, CSIRO), Western Australia and with the Institute for Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Science, Changsha, Southern Central China.

As a Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Study, Professor Macrae will help develop and deliver Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) between Durham University and UFRJ. The goal shared by Durham University and UFRJ is to widen access to international exchange for all undergraduate students through smart learning and  digital technology.

Events

TBC