Free Event: Willy Verstraete: Engineering Microbial Biotech for Environmental Sustainability

The event is hybrid. You can also join the event by MSTeams [Click here to join the meeting]

Over the past decades , knowledge  has been gained about basic principles in microbial ecology and how  to implement them in environmental biotech in order to engineer towards environmental efficiency. Yet , the divide between spontaneous mixed culture systems and precision designed fermentations remains  prominent . Moreover , it is necessary to critically examine the overall value of  nitrification/denitrification in soils and waters ,  of activated sludge systems  in water treatment and of rumen fermentation in the food supply chain.

The issues of microbial  soil carbon storage , nitrogen and biodiversity , new agro-systems with low pesticide and Haber Bosch nitrogen inputs , resource recovery in waste treatment ,  microbial protein production , biomethane  , and finally environmental  hygiene versus activated immunology are addressed and discussed in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals.

W Verstraete has a track record in environmental biotech. As a professor at the Ghent University, he focused on the engineering of microbial cultures to bring forward efficient microbial processes for the clean up of various pollutants in soil, aquatic environments and waste gases. His work resulted in the start-up of several spin-offs in the domain of anaerobic digestion, solid waste conversion, water treatment .and treatment of gaseous effluents. In the past 10 years, he focused on resource recovery, with a particular emphasis on the upgrading of nitrogen to microbial protein and the application of the latter either as food, feed, organic fertilizer or biopolymer. He is a highly cited author in the domain of microbial biotechnology and actively involved in several international organisations and agencies dealing with environmental management .