Stephan Schmitz-Esser is a Professor in the Department of Animal Science at Iowa State University. He earned his Ph.D. from the Division of Microbial Ecology, University of Vienna, in 2004, and served as a Postdoctoral Associate at the Division of Microbial Ecology, University of Vienna (2004–2010), and at the Institute for Milk Hygiene, Milk Technology and Food Science, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna (2010–2014). He was elected a member of Sigma Xi in 2021 and elected a member of Gamma Sigma Delta in 2018. He is also a member of the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP), the American Dairy Science Association (ADSA), the International Society for Microbial Ecology (ISME), and the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). His lab is interested in the interaction of eukaryotes and bacteria; these interactions have spanned model eukaryote and bacterial symbiont systems on the one hand to the spectacular complexity of microbiomes of farm animals on the other hand.