Science for Sustainability Hub

SDG 12: Responsible Consumption & Production

Improving global consumption and production patterns

Name Areas of research Description
Afra Alkatheeri 

biotechnology

green industrial practices

waste management 

Interested in bioproduction using yeast, so as to move awayfrom harmful chemical synthesis and enhance commercial prospects of labile bioproduction system. Prior experience as an academic researcher in membrane desalination may also help me to contribute.
Eve Andrews

renewable energy

circular economy

offshore wind

Circular economy in offshore wind. Tools for renewable energy companies to select affordable steps towards a circular low carbon energy generation network.
Mohit Arora

circular economy

urban sustainability

low carbon construction

engineering for development

Interested in the current state of resource efficiency in urban systems and industries, and develops technological and policy interventions for a low carbon future. Mohit has worked with several cities to improve their materials management towards a more circular economy. In low and middle income countries, he is focusing on engineering driven solutions to achieve low carbon development solutions for buildings and construction sector.
Benjamin Bach

data visualization

data science

public engagement

Working on data visualization and making data accessible and understandable by experts and non-experts. Data visualization is essential in understanding complex processes and data sets. Especially, techniques from storytelling and visual communication have huge potential to communicate findings and information to large and diverse audiences. 
Liz Baggs

climate smart technologies

agritechnology

environmental change

Development of mitigation strategies for greenhouse gas emissions from agri-environment systems. This includes international partnerships, and with non-academic stakeholders, to enhance a circular nutrient economy that lowers reliance on inorganic fertilisers in smallholder farming systems. 
Christopher Beckett
sustainable construction, thermal performance, housing resilience
Engineering behaviour of earth building materials and structures, aiming to improve their durability and design.
Nicholle Bell

environmental adaptation

natural capital

technologies for environmental monitoring

Applying advanced analytical technologies  to understanding how peatlands, Earth's largest terrestrial carbon store, adapt to human activities and climate change. Many believe peatlands store carbon due to the antimicrobial properties of certain molecules, however until now our ability to 'see' inside peat has been hindered by the fact that peat is the most complex mixture on Earth.
Benjamin Bhawal

organic chemistry

catalysis

Aims to develop new catalytic processes to unlock innovative chemical transformations. This will facilitate more efficient and environmentally benign processes. In addition, we are interested in designing new catalytic reactions for the valorisation of sustainable biorenewable chemicals.
Fiona Bunn

biotechnology

circular economy

metals

Focus on bioleaching of critical metals from electronic wastes, contributing to the circular economy for a sustainable future. The rare earth metals that are at the top of the EU critical resources list, and viable solutions must be found for their effective recycling, especially from products such as electric car batteries, wind turbine magnets and mobile electronic devices.
Dominic Campopiano

biocatalysis

industrial biotechnology

sustainability

Using biocatalysts (natural and engineered) to catalyse chemical reactions, as well as developing chemical tools to reduce waste and increase yields of enzyme-catalysed chemical reactions.
Efthalia Chatzisymeon

environmental engineering

water and wastewater treatment

environmental sustainability

Development of sustainable technologies for water and wastewater treatment; life cycle assessment of environmental processes and technologies.
Michael Cowley

chemistry

discovering new chemistry for a sustainable society 

Working on the chemistry of the most abundant metals in the Earth’s crust - aluminium and silicon - to provide synthetic methods to prepare bulk and fine chemicals with lower energy costs and without reliance on limited reserves of precious metals.
James Cumby

materials

AI

batteries

Creating new materials for future energy technologies, with the aim of diversifying and improving energy storage systems. To do this I combine synthetic chemistry with artificial intelligence to discover materials faster and more efficiently.
Maria Grazia De Angelis

environmental protection

biomedical applications

clean energy

sustainable materials

Membranes for greenhouse gas emission reduction, sustainable materials for packaging and other applications, and development of low water, accessible and inclusive  hemodialysis processes.
Tim Drysdale

education

alternatives to travel

policy

Interested in remote laboratories that eliminate the need for staff, students to travel to conduct practical work (for teaching, research, dissemination and outreach) as well as reducing the draw on natural resources by allowing fewer items of equipment to fulfill demand through sharing between sites. 
Virginia Echevarri-Bravo

biotechnology

synthetic biology

nanotechnology

Development of biological methods for recycling and up-cycling metals contained in spent lithium ion batteries; metal bio-recycling methods can support the development of more sustainable/greener recycling methods for enabling a circular economy. Reduce reliance on the current sources of raw materials associated with human rights abuses and decrease mining activities that have a negative effect on  human and environmental health.

Yuta Era

biotechnology

recycling

catalysis

Aiming to convert waste metals to useful products such as catalysts, with a particular focus on catalysis promoted by biogenic metal nanoparticles.
Andrew Free

biotechnology

anti-microbial resistance

biogeochemical cycling

Interested in the application of microbial communities to bioremediation, sustainable waste treatment and energy generation from waste. We also have interests in the evolution and spread of antimicrobial resistance and approaches to tackling it.
Chris French

biotechnology

biomass

pathway engineering

Research on biomass degradation for sustainable non food-based feedstocks, also metabolic pathway engineering for conversion of sugars to valuable products as alternative to chemical processes.
Jennifer Garden

sustainable polymers

catalysis

materials

Focus on improving the sustainability of plastics across their lifecycle. We approach this by making materials from renewable resources (e.g. plants and CO2), improving the efficiency of production processes (by making new catalysts) and investigating opportunities to improve recycling technologies.
Agata Glusek-Kustusz

molecular cell biology

wet lab based sustainability

Promotes sustainable solutions for working in research laboratories. This encompasses organisation of lab spaces, organisation of purchasing sustainable equipment and promoting sustainable behaviours. I am interested in new technologies that would aid sustainability in lab spaces and beyond.
Ross Grassie

quantum

AI

sustainability

Interested in the potential of quantum computing to address sustainability challenges.
Bjarnhedinn Gudlaugsson

energy transition

renewable energy

energy policy

Understanding decisions and policies in the context of the energy transition, energy system and policy implementation to provide practical information and support policy-making. 
Sian Henley

ocean science

polar regions

ocean governance

Focussed on making ocean science more sustainable and employing science to make human use of our fragile oceans more sustainable. Also interested in ocean science and observations to underpin effective evidence-based decision-making for ocean governance, policy and management to protect and restore them.
Claire Hobday

energy

decarbonising heating and cooling

Tackling issues of heating and cooling through understanding and developing solid-state refrigerant materials. We do this by analysing the structure of materials via diffraction and computational methods and understanding how the refrigerant properties are altered.
Louise Horsfall

sustainable biotechnology

resource efficiency

synthetic biology

Translating academic research into novel industrially-usable platforms for the sustainable production of scientifically improved enzymes, bio-based chemicals and other bio-derived materials by exploiting new analytical and bio-based technologies. Our disruptive innovations will lead to the development of unique and sustainable new products, derived from wastes and by-products, and demonstration of their cost-efficient and energy-saving production using novel biomanufacturing technologies.
Amanda Jarvis

green chemistry

biotechnology

Development of greener and more efficient methods for chemical production, with a focus on using knowledge from both Chemistry and Biology to design better catalytic processes. 
Susan Jarvis 

sustainable Food systems

agritech

animal welfare science 

Interested in Sustainable Food Systems, and in particular the role of animal welfare science to ensure sustainable and socially acceptable food production systems. Leads the delivery of UG programmes and courses in Global Agriculture and Food Security, as well as the DDI Agritech Talent programme aimed at upskilling learners in data science and technology relevant to sustainable food systems.  
Emily Johnston

biotechnology

microbial cell factories

synthetic biology

Development of yeast cell factories for the production of plant triterpenoid compounds. These compounds have huge potential in many industries; for example as surfactants in cleaning products, as vaccine adjuvants and anti-inflammatories in therapeutics, and as gelling agents and foam stabilisers in food products. Some compounds provide novel functionalities (SDG 3 and 9), while others are bio-based alternatives to petrochemical-derived chemicals (SGD 12 and 13).
Caroline Kirk

environmental remediation

green energy storage 

Materials chemistry solutions for environmental issues using low cost and sustainable methods. This includes innovative and novel approaches for remediation of potentially toxic elements, developing new materials for applications in green energy storage and production of sustainable and low carbon cements.
Marc Krautzberger

renewable energy

technological solutions to manage the nexus between climate change and poverty

social science and policy

Interested in how policymakers and firms manage competing demands (e.g. economic vs. environmental goals) in the process of developing and providing technological solutions in response to societal challenges.
Sam Lau

chemical separations

desalination

polymer science

Interested in recycling plastic waste into polymer membranes and microporous polymers for chemical separations. We also deploy Green Chemistry principles to make these materials by deploying green solvents and biorenewable materials.
Jason Love

extraction

recycling

catalysis

Expertise in chemistry of the recycling and extraction of metals from their ores and other sources, including electronic waste, with the aim to develop new, sustainable, and environmentally benign processes that promote the circular use of metals. 
Francisca Martinez Hergueta

composites

recycling

manufacturing

Life cycle assessment of sustainable composites. Development of recycling routes for thermoplastic materials and remoulding processes compatible with the structural requirements of the transport sector. Prediction of the mechanical response using finite element analysis and artificial intelligence/machine learning models. 
Dominic Moran
environmental, agricultural and food systems economics
Interested in definitions and metrics of sustainability, economic appraisal of technological options using non-market valuation, and behavioral and political appraisal of technology adoption. 
Adrian Muwonge 
digital health and agrictech
digital health and agritech
Bart Pander
autotrophic biotechnology business Interested in non-photosynthetic autotrophic microbiology and biotechnology.
Symon Podilchak 

AI

sensors

engineering 

Working on a UoE spinout which deals with AI and RF solutions for recycling.
Alexandra Price

renewable energy

regenerative economy

Work in renewable energy - designing tools to help researchers design control policies to make a step change in the viability of wave energy. Also interested in decarbonisation, including clean heat, co-housing, and regenerative economics. 
Pedro Rangel de Faria

synthetic biology

plastic recycling

biochemitry

Developing a biosynthetic pathway that allows the bacterium Escherichia coli to use monomers derived from PET plastics as precursors to more useful compounds, with more value added, allowing for a more sustainable and circular economy.
Lynne Regan

biotechnology

agritechnology

human health 

Expertise in biomaterials, such as hydrogels, made exclusively from recombinant proteins produced by bacteria. This method contrasts with those that use petrochemically derived components to synthesise such materials.  
Michael Rovatsos
AI and its application to sustainability
Focus on AI algorithms that can support the development of technologies supporting fairness, equality, and social justice. As part of my role at the intersection of research and innovation, I am also interested in many other areas of sustainability where AI and data science can be applied.
Joanna Sadler

biotechnology

waste valorisation

plastic degradation

Development of novel biotechnologies to valorise post-consumer waste (in particular plastic waste) into high value products. This is ultimately aimed at enabling transition to a more sustainable, circular economy for the chemicals industry.
Rosa Santomartino

space microbiology

astrobiology

space biomanufacturing

Building a sustainable future for space exploration, by developing microbial biotechnologies which will implement circular economy for life support systems. 
Ione Smith

renewable energy

recyclable composites

tidal turbine blades

Developing key offshore renewable energy technologies whilst minimising waste and impact. Evaluate the use of recyclable thermoplastic resin in the manufacture of a composite tidal stream turbine blade and the impacts on blade performance.
Eva Steele

biotechnology

biorefinery

circular economy

Interested in valorisation of lignin, a major component of lignocellulose which is one of the most abundant sustainable and renewable resources on the planet. This will contribute significantly to the economic viability of second generation biorefineries.
Iain Struthers

renewable energy

energy system

environmental impact

Life Cycle Assessment of prospective energy technologies and systems to assess the environmental impacts of technologies for a sustainable future. Specialised in offshore renewable energy, and other energy system technologies.
Joyce Tait

life science innovation

policy and regulation

responsible innovation

Focus on genetic technology solutions to challenges relevant to Net Zero and biodiversity policy objectives, considering: development of business models and value chains for innovative technologies; regulatory systems, standards and guidelines and how they can support of constrain innovation. 
Job Thijssen

battery materials

sustainable reformulation

jedi (justice equity diversity inclusion)

Interested in soft matter for sustainable energy materials, for example hybrid solid electrolytes for safer batteries, as well as the role of inclusion in current physics curricula.
Camilla Thomson

renewable energy

environmental impact

energy systems

Developing analytical tools for better evaluating the environmental impacts of energy systems and technologies. This aims to inform the rapid transition to low-carbon energy systems and support sustainable development. This is achieved by both evaluating emerging technologies, and exploring how they can be best combined and developed to produce energy systems that are secure, equitable, economically viable, environmentally sustainable and socially acceptable.