Prof. Jae-Ho Shin received his BS, MS, and Ph.D. degree in Agricultural Chemistry from Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Republic of Korea, then did postdoctoral work in archaeal DNA replication at the University of Maryland before coming back to Kyungpook National University where he worked in the nascent field of agriculturally useful microbes and metagenomics as a professor. He has been an assistant professor, associated professor, and full professor at the University since 2007 and is now head of the department. His research focuses on using sequence-based approaches to understanding microbes and microbial communities in a range of agricultural environments including the plant rhizosphere, endosphere, soil, and water.