Environmental Biotechnology Network

Governing Synthetic Biology – a Social Sciences primer (…plus an updated WG Report)

EBNet members from a range of backgrounds whose work is impacted by synthetic or engineering biology may be interested in a new publication on Governing Synthetic Biology, in the Oxford Biology Primers series. This book is intended as an introductory text providing readers from different disciplines with an overview of …

Wastewater Treatment Works – are site visits getting easier?

EBNet has been commenting for some time now about the difficulty of arranging visits to water and wastewater treatment facilities, even for organised groups. Several factors may account for this, from pressure on staff time to concerns about health and safety and awareness of the sector’s poor public image. It’s …

Do we need a war to make the case for biomethane?

While Governments struggle to respond to short-term price swings and more lasting uncertainties on global energy supplies, the renewable energy sector is pressing the case for diversification and reduced reliance on fossil fuel resources. The UK’s Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA) has issued a special Newsletter for members, with …

The Last Plastic Fork – and more writing opportunities

The Green Stories Project has published winning stories from its flash fiction competition in an anthology The Last Plastic Fork and Other Green Epiphanies.  Copies of paper and ebook versions are available from Habitat Press. For more information on the Green Stories competition see here. Meanwhile Habitat Press author Laura …

Harnessing Microbial Biotechnology for Biomining – Elemental Hub Lecture

Date:18 June 2026 12:00 Venue: Natural History Museum, London (or online) The Elemental Hub is hosting a lecture by Prof Elizabeth Watkin on 18 June 2026 at the Natural History Museum, London.  The talk will explore how microbial biotechnology can transform biomining; and will highlight innovative bioleaching approaches, including the …

ESWS WG – Microfluidics Conference 2026, a new paper and updated WG report

Members of EBNet’s Environmental Sensors and Wastewater Surveillance (ESWS) WG have recently published an article on a paper-microfluidic platform for infection monitoring and immunity evaluation of viral RNA and antibodies. The paper presents a system that integrates a streamlined processing protocol with a paper-based LAMP assay for viral RNA detection, …

Better Water 4 All Network – first Flexible Funding call

Deadline: 1 May 2026 The Better Water for All Network+ (BW4A) Is calling for collaborative, cross-disciplinary research proposals to be submitted to its first Flexible Fund Call. The Network’s themes are: Theme 1: Systems Approaches for Water Engineering Theme 2: Pollutant Measurement, Monitoring and Risks Theme 3: Engineering innovation and …

New bioinformatics training opportunities  – and updated WG report

Don’t miss two outstanding new training opportunities: Introduction to Quarto, 22 April 2026, Online workshop, ÂŁ75/ÂŁ50  –  FLYER here Metatranscriptomics, 11-22 May 2026, Online workshop, Free  –  FLYER here These workshops are organised by the UKRI Digital Research Skills Catalyst (DRSC), an initiative to promote materials and activities by Cloud-SPAN …

UKRI Translation: EPSRC Prosperity Partnerships 2027

Closing date: 21 May 2026 Prosperity Partnerships are collaborative research partnerships that focus on important industry challenges. Applications should feature world-leading, fundamental engineering and physical sciences research, which creates long-term prosperity for the UK. They should lead to significant impacts by creating new knowledge, innovations, approaches, or technologies. It should …

Membrane fouling control review – and an updated report from the AG WG

A recent review paper on methods of membrane fouling control and cleaning provides an excellent example of the need to consider physical and chemical technologies in conjunction with microbial treatment systems. Environmental biotechnologies not only require engineered systems to enable and maintain the microbially-mediated processes that drive them; these elements …

BBNet Report on the State of UK Biorefining now available

The Biomass Biorefinery Network (BBNet) has launched its report on The State of UK Biorefining: Progress, Performance and Pathways for Growth. The report assesses the evolution, current status and future prospects of the UK biorefining sector. It draws on a decade of published literature (2014–2024), stakeholder engagement conducted in 2025, …

EMISI Sanitation Emissions project: Final Dissemination webinar available here

The EMISI Final Dissemination Webinar, which presents key findings and reflections from the Emissions Measurement to Improve Sanitation in Indonesia (EMISI) project, is now available on EBNet’s YouTube channel, by kind request of the EMISI Project team. EMISI activities involved extensive work on the direct empirical measurement of nitrous oxide …