Join us for #EnvBiotechAware Week, 3-7 March 2025 to celebrate the work of our membership and take a closer look at our activities and achievements from the last few years.
Featured Working Groups
What have our Working Groups been up to? Ably led by academics whose enthusiasm translates into action, see how EBNet support has benefited these communities. Today’s featured groups:
• Environmental Sensors and Wastewater Surveillance
• PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’
• Biochars for Pollution Prevention
Impact
Our Working Groups have been busy with papers and projects, workshops and webinars, so many tangible outputs have been produced to help guide the wider Environmental Biotechnology community. Today we feature:
• Our PFAS Working Group have produced a Position Statement on Addressing PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’ Contamination in the Environment which highlights the need for urgent action to mitigate environmental and human health risks as the number of contaminated sites rise.
• Biochar activities: Members of our Biochar Working group have produced a Summary of the Integration of Thermal, Thermochemical and Biological Conversion Technologies paper after their February workshop which examined integration of these technologies to improve environmental and economic outcomes of waste and biomass valorisation. Members of the group have also produced two post conference summaries from the European Biosolids & Bioresources Conference & Exhibition (Nov 24) and the International Conference on Engineering for Waste & Biomass Valorisation (Aug 24).
“I am an Environmental Biotechnologist because….”
And our researchers span a plethora of fields, technologies and topics. So we asked them to respond to: ‘I am an Environmental Biotechnologist because…‘.
• Nnenna Chukwuekezie, Cranfield University, Natalie Lamb, University of Sheffield and Rhys Jon Jones, University of South Wales
• Francis Hassard, Cranfield University, Muhammad Zahid, Teeside University and Nathan Wright, Queen Mary’s University London
Outreach
We’ve commissioned books, animations and more – all available for the wider community to be used beyond the lifetime of our Network. Take a few moments to watch, download and share today’s animation:
The application of microbubbles for wastewater treatment and more
Selected Case Studies
• Fluorescent Microbiofilter Assay for Rapid Real-time Monitoring of Organic Micropollutants Biodegradation. Dr Caroline Gauchotte-Lindsay, University of Glasgow (POC202113)
• CRISPR/Cas-enabled paper-based sensors for rapid monitoring of antimicrobial resistance. Prof Zhugen Yang, Cranfield University (POC202214)
• Elucidating mechanisms of bacterial adsorption to biochar by 3D X-ray image analysis. Dr Meredith Barr, London South Bank University (POC202409)
• Molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations for assessing biodegradation of PFAS. Dr Tao Lyu, Cranfield University (POC202413)
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Nocardia surface bloom in aerobic sludge |
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Oil and fat degraders Nocardia in aerobic sludge |
| Images kindly provided by Prof Francisco Torrella of the University of Murcia Faculty of Biology, one of our valued group of international expert advisers | |||