Thulani Makhalanyane graduated from the University of the Western Cape, where he completed his postgraduate training - MSc cum laude in 2009 and Ph.D. awarded in 2013. Post Ph.D., he moved to the University of Pretoria (UP) in 2013. During this period, his research has focused almost entirely on understanding the ecology of microbial communities in extreme environments. These habitats include soil microbial communities in the Antarctic Dry Valleys, the Namib Desert and now increasingly focused on South African geographically strategic regions such as the Southern Ocean.

He was appointed lecturer in 2014, promoted to associate professor in 2019 and is the incumbent DSI/NRF SARChI Chair in Marine Microbiomics. He supervises 18 students at M and D levels. Prof. Makhalanyane has authored over 70 publications since 2012 (H index 26). His work was presented at several international meetings including the International Symposium on Microbial Ecology. He serves on several editorial boards and is currently Senior Editor of the ISME Journal, mSystems and Communications Biology. He also serves on national and international panels representing South Africa in bilateral discussions. Thulani was elected to the board of the ISME Society in October 2018 and is a member of the Executive Advisory Board. Prof. Makhalanyane is a previous Fulbright Scholar and has received several awards including the TW-Kambule-NSTF Award (Emerging Researcher) and the prestigious NRF P-Rating.