Lynn Margulis (1938–2011) was Distinguished Professor of Botany at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. An evolutionary theorist and biologist, science author, and educator, Margulis was the modern originator of the symbiotic theory of cell evolution. Once considered heresy, her ideas are now part of the microbiological revolution.

Celeste A. Asikainen, a geologist, is the administrator of the Margulis Laboratory and a doctoral student.

Wolfgang E. Krumbein, formerly at Oldenburg University in Germany, is counted among the founders of geomicrobiology and biogeochemistry, new scientific fields especially relevant to global climate and planetary biology.