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Wei Qin is an Assistant Professor of Microbiology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology and the Department of Microbiology. He joined the faculty in August 2025. Qin earned a B.S. in Environmental Science from Beijing Normal University in 2010 and a Ph.D. in Environmental Microbiology from the University of Washington in 2016. He completed postdoctoral training as a Simons Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Washington from 2017 to 2020 and previously served as Assistant Professor of Microbiology at the University of Oklahoma.
Qin’s research focuses on microbial physiology and ecology, environmental microbiology, biological oceanography, archaeal biology, the microbial nitrogen cycle, and biogeochemistry. His work examines the biogeochemical roles of nitrifying microorganisms, including ammonia-oxidizing archaea and bacteria, in marine and terrestrial nutrient transformations, as well as their adaptations to environmental changes. He employs physiological methods, next-generation sequencing, proteomics, metabolomics, microbial genetics, and bioinformatics in his studies. Qin has received the Sloan Research Fellowship in 2026, the Simons Foundation Early Career Award in Aquatic Microbial Ecology and Evolution in 2025, and the Department of Energy Early Career Award in 2024. His publications include articles in Nature Microbiology, PNAS, ISME Journal, and Science. He holds additional affiliations with the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology and maintains an active research program investigating nitrifier ecology and nutrient cycling.
Discover how deep ocean microbes like Nitrosopumilus maritimus are adapting to climate change through enhanced iron efficiency, as shown in new PNAS study from University of Illinois.
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