Prof Don Cowan is a Full Professor in the Department of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. He is also the Director of both the Genomics Research Institute and the Centre for Microbial Ecology and Genomics.
Prof Cowan’s Research is in the field of microbial ecology, with a primary focus on soil microbiomics. His specific interest in the microbial ecology of extreme environments, particularly hot and cold desert ecosystems, has taken him to many remote parts of the world, including the Antarctic continent and the High Arctic, to many of the world’s deserts and to other remote parts of China, South America and Africa.
Prof Cowan’s Research activities have been recognized through various Awards and Medals. He is an NRF A1-rated researcher, a Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa, a Member of the Academy of Sciences of South Africa and as an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand.
He received the National Science and Technology Forum Capacity Development Award in 2014. Prof Cowan received the University of Pretoria Chancellor’s Medal in 2015, was elected as a Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences in 2017, and, most recently, was Awarded the 2019 Royal Society of South Africa’s John F.W. Herschel Medal.
