The Hebrew University of Jerusalem proudly announces that Dr. Uria Alcolombri has been named one of the 19 National Champions of the prestigious Frontiers Planet Prize 2025. This esteemed recognition highlights Dr. Alcolombri as the sole Israeli scientist honored in this year’s global competition, which celebrates revolutionary scientific solutions aimed at planetary health challenges. His groundbreaking work now shines on an international stage, emphasizing his role as a thought leader in the fight against climate change.
The Frontiers Planet Prize is widely recognized as the foremost award dedicated specifically to planetary health, seeking to spotlight pioneering scientific achievements that offer realistic and scalable responses to pressing environmental crises. In the 2025 cycle, the Prize has distinguished 19 scientists for their transformative research across diverse fields and continents. These champions stand at the forefront of environmental science, contributing innovative insights and practical strategies to confront the global climate emergency.
Dr. Alcolombri’s award falls within the critical realm of Climate Change Mitigation and Carbon Sequestration, reflecting the deep societal and ecological importance of his study published recently in Science. His paper, titled “Microbial dietary preference and interactions affect the export of lipids to the deep ocean,” reveals novel mechanistic insights into how microorganisms regulate carbon storage in marine ecosystems. The work offers new perspectives on biological carbon sequestration, a key process influencing global climate regulation.
At the core of Dr. Alcolombri’s investigation lies the crucial but often underexplored role of marine bacteria in the Earth’s carbon cycle. Contrary to prior assumptions that mostly emphasize physical and chemical oceanic processes, his findings demonstrate that microbial communities exert profound control over the fate of carbon molecules. By selectively utilizing different dietary sources and engaging in complex symbiotic and competitive interactions, these microscopic communities determine whether carbon compounds are efficiently sequestered in deep ocean sediments or quickly remineralized and returned to the atmosphere.
Employing an arsenal of advanced methodologies—including nano-lipidomics for molecular lipid profiling, state-of-the-art microfluidic devices to recreate and monitor microbial ecosystems, and controlled laboratory simulations—Dr. Alcolombri’s research unravels the sophisticated physiology and ecology of deep-sea bacteria. This integrative approach allows for quantifying how microbial metabolic pathways direct lipid export, linking cellular-scale processes to ocean-wide carbon fluxes. Such technical innovation sets a new benchmark for experimental marine microbiology and biogeochemistry.
The implications of this research extend far beyond academic curiosity. By clarifying how marine microbial metabolism shapes carbon storage, Dr. Alcolombri’s findings challenge existing paradigms and suggest that biological controls on carbon fluxes may be more dynamic and responsive to environmental change than previously thought. This opens avenues for developing nature-based solutions aimed at enhancing oceanic carbon sequestration as part of a broader climate mitigation strategy.
Moreover, this work underscores the urgency of protecting marine biodiversity and ecosystems, given their intrinsic linkage to global climate stability. Any disruption to microbial communities—whether through pollution, ocean acidification, or temperature shifts—could reverberate through the carbon cycle, diminishing the ocean’s capacity to act as a carbon sink. Therefore, maintaining healthy oceanic systems becomes a pivotal component of planetary resilience.
As a recognized National Champion, Dr. Alcolombri will join a global consortium of esteemed scientists and innovators dedicated to translating cutting-edge research into practical policy recommendations and technological interventions. This network facilitates interdisciplinary collaborations, fostering a robust exchange of ideas poised to accelerate advancements in sustainability and environmental stewardship.
The Frontiers Planet Prize Award Ceremony is scheduled for June 17, 2025, to be held during the Villars Symposium in Villar-sur-Ollon, Switzerland. This event gathers a constellation of global leaders in science, technology, and policy to showcase breakthrough research, discuss actionable insights, and catalyze collaborative solutions that address planetary emergencies.
Strategic partnerships supporting the Prize, including Future Earth, the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, the International Science Council, and the Villars Institute, reflect the program’s commitment to global impact. These collaborations anchor the Prize in a worldwide context of scientific excellence and societal relevance.
Dr. Alcolombri’s trailblazing research exemplifies the power of scientific inquiry harnessed to explicate the unseen yet monumental processes that govern the Earth’s climate system. By decoding the subtle microbial interactions that dictate oceanic carbon fate, this work illuminates an essential facet of Earth’s biosphere that could hold keys to mitigating our planet’s climate crisis.
The scientific community awaits further developments inspired by this study, particularly in how emerging technologies might harness microbial ecology for enhanced carbon capture. Such innovations could herald a new era of sustainable climate intervention, integrating biological insights into engineering novel carbon sequestration pathways.
Ultimately, Dr. Uria Alcolombri’s recognition as a Frontiers Planet Prize National Champion represents a milestone not only in his career but also for Israeli science and the global effort to safeguard Earth’s future. His research invites a deeper appreciation of microbially-driven processes as vital levers in planetary health, reminding us that even the smallest organisms can have monumental impacts on the global environment.
Subject of Research: Microbial roles in oceanic carbon sequestration and climate change mitigation
Article Title: Microbial dietary preference and interactions affect the export of lipids to the deep ocean
News Publication Date: 2024 (Research publication), Frontiers Planet Prize Award Ceremony on June 17, 2025
Web References:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aab2661
References:
Alcolombri, U. et al. (2024). Microbial dietary preference and interactions affect the export of lipids to the deep ocean. Science. DOI:10.1126/science.aab2661
Image Credits: Alcolombri Lab
Keywords: Environmental methods, Marine life, Educational institutions, Academic researchers, Scientific publishing
