A professor and his student from Jeonbuk National University (JBNU), who were jointly honored with national agency commendations for their efforts to secure domestic microbial resources and for excellence in research, are attracting attention.

The subjects of the story are Professor Jang Kwang-yeop of the Department of Biological Sciences and the Microbiology Laboratory (Dean of the Graduate School), and Kang Ji-young, a member of the same research team and a Ph.D. candidate.

Professor Jang recently received a Commendation from the Minister of Environment in recognition of his achievements in securing microbial resources and related publications.

Professor Jang, who has served on the faculty at JBNU since 1982, has been actively engaged in research and in training talent in the field of biological sciences.

In particular, since 2007 he has participated as a researcher and Principal Investigator (PI) in the National Institute of Biological Resources' survey, discovery and research project on native organisms. He is credited with making major contributions to securing Korea's native microbial resources in an era of resource competition and with taking the lead in establishing systematic exploration strategies.

At the same time, Kang Ji-young, a member of the same research team and a Ph.D. candidate, also received a Commendation from the Director of the National Institute of Biological Resources in recognition of her contributions to securing native microbial resources.

At a time when the Nagoya Protocol was about to enter into force, Kang conducted research on the value of securing and asserting sovereignty over native microbial resources. Together with the research team, she published four related papers in IJSEM, a leading journal in microbial taxonomy, and was recognized for these contributions.