Sarah Harmer is the founder and Director of Flinders Microscopy and Microanalysis, Deputy Director of the Flinders Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology and Professor of Physics at Flinders University. She studied Applied Physics at UniSA and received a PhD from the Ian Wark Research Institute, UniSA. She then accepted a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the University of Western Ontario where her research focused on the surface electronic structure of 3d transition metal sulfide and arsenide fracture surfaces using Synchrotron X-ray photoelectron Spectroscopy (SXPS) and X-ray Absorption Near Edge Spectroscopy (XANES). Upon returning to Australia, Sarah worked in the Manufacturing & Infrastructure Technology division of CSIRO before returning to the Wark as a Research Fellow within the Australian Mineral Science Research Institute (AMSRI). In 2012 she took up an ARC Future Fellowship at Flinders University to study the interaction between bacteria and mineral surfaces using advanced synchrotron spectromicroscopy techniques. Her current research encompasses the electronic structure of transition metal dichalcogenides, 3D metal printing and acid mine drainage predication and remediation.