Dr. Michi Taga earned her bachelor’s degree in Biology from Carleton College and her PhD in Molecular Biology from Princeton University. At Princeton, she developed a love for microbiology while investigating the mechanisms of bacterial quorum sensing with advisor Bonnie Bassler. She then transitioned to a postdoc with Graham Walker at MIT to study bacteria-host interactions, using the Rhizobium-legume symbiosis as a model. Her postdoctoral research led to the discovery and characterization of the last missing step in the biosynthesis of vitamin B12. She joined the Department of Plant & Microbial Biology at the University of California, Berkeley, as an Assistant Professor in 2009, and is currently a tenured Associate Professor. Her laboratory investigates the mechanisms of nutrient cross-feeding among bacteria, using vitamin B12-like metabolites (corrinoids) as model nutrients. She was named a Winkler Fellow in 2010, a Hellman Fellow in 2012, and an NIH New Innovator in 2014. Her current research is supported by NIH and DOE.