Geomicrobiology Group
Fumio Inagaki
Education
1997-2000 Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, Japan
(PhD., c/o Prof. Seiya Ogata, Geomicrobiology)
1995-1997 Microbial Genetics Division, Institute for Genetic Resources,
Kyushu University, Japan (M.S., Molecular Genetics)
1991-1995 Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, Japan
(B.S., Microbiology)
Professional Appointments
2024-present Vice Director, Division Director of Research, Professor, World Premier International Research Center Initiative
(WPI) Advanced Institute for Marine Ecosystem Change (WPI-AIMEC), Tohoku University & Japan Agency
for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC)
2023-present Project Leader, Project Team for Ocean Basalt CCS Basic Research (SIP Ocean: Theme 4), General Project
Team for SIP (SIP: Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program, the Cabinet Office), JAMSTEC
2023-2024 Investigator, Drilling Project Support Office, Institute for Marine-Earth Exploration (MarE3), JAMSTEC
2021-2024 Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University, Japan
2020-present Guest Professor, Research Organization for Nano & Life Innovation, Waseda University, Japan
2020-present Guest Professor, Graduate School of Integrated Arts and Sciences, Kochi University, Japan
2019-2023 Director, Mantle Drilling Promotion Office, Institute for Marine-Earth Exploration and
Engineering (MarE3), JAMSTEC
2016-2019 Deputy Director, Research and Development Center for Ocean Drilling Science (ODS), JAMSTEC
2015-2019 Deputy Director, Kochi Institute for Core Sample Research, JAMSTEC
2011-2019 Group Leader, Geobiotechnology Group, Research and Development Center for Submarine Resources,
JAMSTEC
2007-2019 Group Leader, Geomicrobiology Group, Kochi Institute for Core Sample Research, JAMSTEC
Principal Scientist, JAMSTEC
2005-2009 Sub-leader, Extremobiosphere Research Center (XBR), JAMSTEC
2005-2006 Guest Scientist, Biogeochemistry Group, Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen,
Germany (c/o Prof. Bo. Barker Jørgensen)
2000-2005 Research Scientist, Deep-Sea Frontier Research Program, JAMSTEC
Honors and Major Grant Awards
2024-2025 Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg (HWK) Fellow (University of Bremen & Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and
Marine Research, Germany)
2022-2024 JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Science Research A: Japan Trench Geomicrobiology: IODP Expedition 386 (Lead PI)
2021 AGU Fellow, the American Geophysical Union (AGU)
2021 Geochemistry Fellow, the Geochemical Society (GS) and the European Association of Geochemistry
(EAG), Goldschmidt 2021, Lyon, France
2021 The Japan Association for Petroleum Technology (JAPT) Special Award
2021 Deep Life Paper Award (Hoshino et al., PNAS, 2020), International Center for Deep Life Investigation (IC-DLI)
Deep Life Paper Award (Heuer et al., Science, 2020), International Center for Deep Life Investigation (IC-DLI)
2019-2021 JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Science Research (Kaitaku): Kidd Creek Geomicrobiology (Lead PI)
2019 The Copernicus Medal 2019, the Copernicus Gesellschaft, e.V., European Geophysical Union (EGU),
2018 Plenary Lecture “Exploring deep microbial life in the planetary interior: What are the limits of habitability?”,
Geochemical Society, Goldschmidt 2018, Boston, USA
2017 The PNAS Cozzarelli Prize 2017, National Academy of Science of the USA
(Trembath-Reichert et al., PNAS, 2017: Category IV)
2016 JAMSTEC Outstanding Research and Development Award
2015 The Asahiko Taira International Scientific Ocean Drilling Research Prize (Taira Prize),
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
2014-2017 JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Science Research A: Subseafloor Microbiomes (Lead PI)
2011-2013 JSPS Funding Program for Next Generation of World-Leading Researchers (NEXT Program) (Lead PI)
2010-2012 JSPS Strategic Fund for Strengthening Leading-Edge Research and Development (Lead PI)
2006 Young Scientist Research Promotion Award, The Japanese Society of Extremophiles
2005-2006 Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Research Fellow, Germany
1999-2000 Japan Society for the Promotion of Sciences (JSPS) Young Scientist Research Fellow
International Synergistic Activity
2023 Chairman, Online Workshop for Joint Research between NTU and Tohoku University, April 14, 2023.
2022 Guest co-editor, Special issue for the Nov. 5th 2022 conference proceedings but extendable for non-
conference paper “Cosmic-Ray Muography and Applications” (Hiroyuki Tanaka, László Oláh, and
Fumio Inagaki, eds.), iScience, Cell Press.
2021-2024 Committee member for investigating suitable sites for the Carbon dioxide Capture and Storage (CCS)
demonstration project, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Japan
2022 Goldschmidt 2022 Geobiology Theme co-chair
2020-2021 Japan Geoscience Union (JpGU) 2021 Program Committee Vice-chair
2019-present Advisory Board member, Earth 4D: Subsurface Science and Exploration, CIFAR, Canada
2019-present Associate Editor, Science Advances, AAAS
2019-present Selection committee member, The Copernicus Medal, the Copernicus Gesellschaft, e.V.
2019-2020 Japan Geoscience Union (JpGU)-American Geophysical Union (AGU) Joint Meeting 2020: Virtual Program
Committee Co-chair
2018-2019 Japan Geoscience Union (JpGU) 2019 Program Committee Vice-chair
2018 Session chair, “Integrated Habitability Science: Forecasting the Trajectory of Life and Planetary Habitability
on Earth and Beyond”, AGU Fall Meeting, Washington D.C., USA
2019-2023 Liaison of the Japan Drilling Earth Science Consortium (J-DESC)
2018-2019 Director (Science Strategy) of the Japan Drilling Earth Science Consortium (J-DESC)
2018 Discussion Leader, “Populating the Deep Biosphere”, Gordon Research Conference on Deep Carbon
Science, Bryant University, RI, USA
2017-present Steering committee member of the International Society for Subsurface Microbiology (ISSM)
2017 The planning committee member of the Theme “Geobiology, Organic Geochemistry, and
Biogeochemistry”, Goldschmidt 2018, Boston, USA
2017 Session convener, “Biogeochemistry in the Deep Ocean and Subsurface: Contributions of the Deep
Biosphere to Earth Systems”, Goldschmidt 2017, Paris, France
2017-present Selection committee member, The Asahiko Taira International Scientific Ocean Drilling Research
Prize (Taira Prize), American Geophysical Union (AGU)
2017-2019 Senior Editor, The ISME Journal
2017 Convener of the “IODP Australian Regional Workshop”, 12-15 June 2017, Sydney, Australia
2016-2018 IODP ECORD Facility Board member
2016 Session convener, “Deep Biosphere: Biogeochemical elemental cycles, serpentinization and evolution
of life in the Earth’s interior”, Goldschmidt 2016, Yokohama, Japan
2016 Steering committee member, the Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO) Symposium in Yokohama,
Yokohama, Japan
2016 NSF JOIDES Resolution Facility Evaluation Panel Board member, USA
2015-2023 Editorial board member, The ISME Journal
2014 Guest lecturer, IODP ECORD Summer School “Subseafloor Biosphere: Current Advances and Future
Challenges”, Univ. Bremen, Germany
2014 Co-convener, the IODP/ECORD-ICDP-DCO MagellanPlus Workshop, “Advancing sub-surface
biosphere and paleoclimate research”, 21-23 August 2014, Seoul, South Korea
2014 Session convener, “Microbiomes of marine ecosystems: Key functions from the cryosphere to the deep
biosphere”, the International Society of Microbial Ecology (ISME), Seoul, South Korea
2014 Chair, the symposium “Subseafloor hydrocarbon resources and carbon cycle: Geobiotechnology for
sustainable earth and societal systems”, Univ. Tokyo, Japan
2013 Session convener, “Life Below the Seafloor-How Alive and How important?”, Goldschmidt 2013,
Florence, Italy
2013-2019 Steering committee member, the Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO) Deep Life Community (DLC),
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
2012-2014 Selection committee member, the Clair C. Patterson Award, Geochemical Society
2012 Chair, the International Workshop “Frontiers in Life and Earth Planetary Sciences”, Kochi Institute for
Core Sample Research, JAMSTEC, Kochi, Japan
2010-present Editorial board member, Astrobiology
2010-2011 IODP Science Plan Writing Committee (SPWC) member
2009-2010 IODP Thematic Review Committee (TRC) member
(Deep-Biosphere Frontiers)
2009 Session convener, “Microbial life in CO2 and pH extremes”,
Goldschmidt 2009, Davos, Switzerland
2009 Steering committee member, the IODP INVEST meeting,
Univ. Bremen, Germany
2008 Organizing committee member, ISSM, Shizuoka, Japan
2008 Session chair, “Subseafloor life and biosphere”, ISSM, Shizuoka, Japan
2008 Guest lecturer, the ECORD Summer School “Deep-Biosphere”, Univ. Bremen, Germany
2008 Session convener, “Biogeochemistry and ecology of life in marine sediments”, Goldschmidt 2008,
Vancouver, Canada
2008-2010 IODP Science Steering and Evaluation Panel (SSEP) member
2007 IODP Science Technology Panel (STP) member, Beijing, China (alternative)
2006-2007 IODP J-DESC Subseafloor Microbiology Panel member
2006 Steering committee and co-chair, IODP Workshop “Exploration of Subseafloor Life with the Integrated
Ocean Drilling Program”, IODP-MI and JOI Inc., Vancouver, Canada
2005-2016 Editorial board member of Applied and Environmental Microbiology
2005 Chair, the special session “Deep-Biosphere Research on IODP”, ISSM-ISEB, Jackson Hole, WY, USA
2005 Session convener, “Subseafloor Biosphere”, ISSM-ISEB, Jackson Hole, WY, USA
Academic Membership
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Japan Geoscience Union (JpGU)
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American Geophysical Union (AGU)
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Europian Geophysical Union (EGU)
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American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
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Geochemical Society (GS)
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International Society of Extremophiles (ISE)
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International Society of Microbial Ecology (ISME)
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Japanese Society for Marine Biotechnology
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Japanese Association for Petroleum Technology (JAPT)
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Japan Society for Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Agrochemistry
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Japanese Society for Extremophiles
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Japanese Society for Microbial Ecology (JSME)
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Japanese Society for Marine Biotechnology (JSMB)