Retirement of İpek Kurtböke from the Microbiology Australia Editorial Board

İpek Kurtböke’s interaction with Microbiology Australia started in 2004 with the publication of a special Actinomycetes issue. That issue covered the key presentations of the 13th International Symposium on the Biology of Actinomycetes held in Melbourne in 2003. After the special issue came out (‘Actinomycetes’, vol. 25, issue 2), she was invited to join the Editorial Board by the then Chair, Ailsa Hocking, and Editor, Penny Bishop. Simultaneously she also held the Chair position of Division 3.

After Ailsa Hocking retired, Chris Burke became the Chair of the Editorial Board and, following his retirement, İpek became the Chair of the Editorial Board.

Over the last 20 years, İpek has worked with many of Australia’s leading microbiologists and has served the members of The ASM. She had the opportunity to develop international links and publish special issues that received significant interest. Both Hatch Stokes and David Ellis were present at the International Union of Microbiological Societies (IUMS) 2008 Congress in Istanbul, Türkiye, which led to further interactions with the Turkish Society for Microbiology and subsequent publication of the two special issues (‘Microbial Diseases and Products that Shaped World History’, vol. 35, issue 3 and ‘Adding to the havoc: microbiology and management following natural disasters’, vol. 44, issue 4). The issue for the ANZAC Centenary (vol. 35, issue 3) involved the New Zealand and Turkish Microbiology Societies, and remains one of the most memorable issues for those involved.

Interactions were enhanced in 2014 when İpek, Ian Macreadie and Paul Young attended the Turkish Microbiology Society meeting, and when representatives from Turkish Microbiology Society attended our ASM meeting in 2015, the year of the ANZAC Centenary. It was fitting that our meeting took place in Canberra in that year since our Turkish colleagues joined with us in attending ‘The Last Post’ ceremony at the Australian War Memorial (pictured), where wreaths were laid. Positive interactions with Russian and British microbiologists have also been fostered through the production of joint issues (‘Microbial Diseases of Travel’, vol. 37, issue 4 and ‘Microbial Biodeterioration and Biodegradation’, vol. 39, issue 3).

Peter Traynor, Ahmet Başustaoḡlu Yıldırım Güneş, İpek Kurtböke, Jo Macreadie and Ian Macreadie at the ‘The Last Post’ ceremony at the Australian War Memorial in 2015.

Due to increasing workload with international appointments, İpek is now passing the torch to other members. So far İpek has been a guest editor on 15 issues of Microbiology Australia (far more than any other guest editor) and has plans to produce another two issues in 2025.

The current Editorial Board and CSIRO Publishing thank İpek for her long and distinguished service to Microbiology Australia.