Mixed emotions: Goodbye to Sarash de Wilde and welcome to Michel Neijmann as the Head of the ISME Office

With mixed emotions, we are sad to announce that Sarash de Wilde will be leaving her position as the Head of ISME Office on November 1st of this year. Sarash has been the heart and soul of ISME for almost 14.5 years, and an integral part of our society's success. We thank Sarash for her outstanding contributions to keeping ISME running so smoothly, her professionalism, dedication and can-do attitude. Sarash is taking on a new position as the Operations Manager in the Laboratory of Microbiology, chaired by Prof. Thijs Ettema, at Wageningen University & Research. We wish Sarash all the best in her future and will miss her sorely!

Personal message:

Dear friends and colleagues - It has been a fantastic ride at ISME! I have watched the society blossom and am very proud to have been part of such an amazing association! I still plan to go to ISME18 in Lausanne coming August and I hope to see many of you there to say my goodbyes in person! Warm regards, Sarash

We are delighted to announce that Michel Neijmann will be taking over as the new Head of the ISME Office on November 1st. We feel lucky to have found such a talented and experienced new head for our office, and are very much looking forward to working with him! Welcome Michel!

Michel has worked as a manager and director in congress and event organizations around the world for many years and will introduce himself below. 

Hi – my name is Michel and it is a real pleasure to continue my career at ISME. I have spent most of my working life supporting different scientific associations in their development, with a specific focus on their member engagement through educational events. The leading principle of my career has always been about facilitating the exchange of knowledge between people in an international environment. The speed of demographic and environmental changes in our lifetime is increasing, and we experience the consequences thereof in our daily lives. It is a true honour for me to serve this community of researchers and educators in microbial ecology, which plays such an important role in helping us to understand and adapt to changes in our habitat. I look forward to meeting many of you in person during our next ISME meeting or at another occasion!