I defended my PhD at the Université Blaise Pascal (actually Université Clermon Auvergne UCA, Clermont-Ferrand, France) in 1991. My research topic was on the community ecology of ciliates and the microbial loop in lakes. I pursued his career as postdoctoral fellow at the Oceanographic Center, Rimouski (1991-1992) and as Research Assistant at the GEOTOP laboratory, Montréal (1993-1994), Canada, working on the same topic but in oceanic ecosystems including annual sea-ice of the Arctic Ocean. In 1994 I was recruited as Associate Scientist (CR) in the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and started working on aquatic viruses. In 2005 I was promoted as Senior Scientist (Director of Research) and initiated research on the molecular diversity and functional roles of heterotrophic flagellates in lakes, unveiling the incidence of zoosporic fungi (Chytrids) with neglected trophic modes (parasitism, saprotrophy, symbiosis) within the community of heterotrophic picoeukaryotes. I heads the Laboratory Microorganisms: Genome & Environment’, UMR CNRS-UCA 6023. I have more than 200 publications to my credit in peer reviewed scientific journals and acts as editor and reviewer for major journals in the field of aquatic ecology. My personnal web page : http://www.lmge.univ-bpclermont.fr/spip.php?article60