Dr Michael Frese currently holds the position of Associate Professor at the University of Canberra and is affiliated with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the Australian Museum in Sydney. He studied biology at the Universities of Osnabrück and Freiburg (both Germany) and, in 1996, received a PhD in virology from the University of Freiburg. Dr Frese continued researching viruses and their interactions with the innate immune defense at the University of Freiburg, the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla (California) and the University of Heidelberg (Germany). He worked with a range of RNA viruses, including influenza viruses, hepatitis C viruses and highly pathogenic haemorrhagic fever viruses. After migrating to Australia in 2006, he studied the replication of caliciviruses and the interferon-induced antiviral resistance in sheep and other livestock animals. In addition, Dr Frese studied the microbiome of honey bees, investigated insecticide resistance in whiteflies and other cotton pests, and conducted systematic reviews and meta-analyses in medical science. In recent years, Dr Frese became involved in palaeontological research. Together with the CSIRO, the Australian Museum, the Australian National University, the Royal Botanical Gardens Victoria and other institutions, he has discovered and studied fossil Lagerstätten, formally described new plant and animal species, and reconstructed palaeoenvironments. He is particularly interested in exploring the use of scanning electron microscopy, fluorescence microscopy and other imaging techniques to investigate the soft tissues of exceptionally preserved fossils. His current palaeontological research focusses on McGraths Flat and similar goethite-rich fossil deposit.