Q:Youcreatedacompanytohelpsolvesomeoftheseenvironmentalissues.Whatdoesyourcompany do?
A:AtmicroTERRA,wetakefishfarmwastewaterandgiveittoourmicroalgae.Themicroalgaefeedonthewasteinthewater.Whentheyfinisheatingallthewaste,thewatercanbereused.Thissavesalotofwater.Italsohelpsstopdownstreampollutionthatwilldestroy ecosystems.
Weuseaveryparticularstrainofmicroalgae.Whenourmicroalgaephotosynthesizes,itproducesprotein.Wethenprocesstheproteinfromthemicroalgaeintofoodforthe fish.
Q:Howdoyougrow the microalgae?
A:Microalgaearemicroscopic.So,westartinthelabonasmallscale.Weknowfromthelabwhatthemicroalgaelike,whattheyneedtogrow,andwheretheythriveingeneral.Butbecauseweworkwithfarming,wehavetoscaleupalotbecauseagricultureis huge.
Q:So,toscaleitup,youhavetogrowmassiveamountsof microalgae?
A:Weuseabioreactor.It’sbasicallythehouseofthemicroalgae.Ourwholesystemhasdifferentparts.Wehavepretreatment[in thelab];wehavebioreactorswherethemicroalgaegrow;andthenaharvestertocollectthebiomass. [Our] challengewasconstructingsomethingthatcanholdlargequantitiesofwastewater.Ithadtobecheap,easytomanage,andlow maintenance.
Microalgaeconvertexcessnutrientsinwaterintoproteinandrelease oxygen.
Q:Isitdangeroustoworkwith wastewater?
A:Wastewaterisfullofharmfulbacteria.Weuseglovesandtrynottotouchourfaces.Wealsowearmasks.Inthelab,weweargownsinadditiontomasksand gloves.
Everything [in thelab]hastobedisinfectedacoupleoftimes.Wealsouseafancyfanthatblowsairinonedirectionsothatourmicrobiologydoesn’tget contaminated.
Floresexaminesatankfullofwastewaterand algae.
Afarmcreates wastewater.
Wastewaterisprocessedwith microalgae.
Cleanwaterandproteinare produced.
Proteinismadeintofish food.
Foodisusedtofeedfishon
the farm.
CircularEconomy
Q:Doyouhaveanyadviceforpeoplewhomightwanttobecomeenvironmental scientists?
A:Iwouldsaytostartonsmallprojects.Thinkofdifferentwaysinwhichyoucanreducewasteorpollutants.Itcouldbesomethingathomelikerecyclingwasteorhavingatinywatertreatmentpond.Everytinyexperimentcounts!Justremembertotelleveryoneaboutwhatyouaredoing,becauseyouwillfindotherpeoplearedoingsimilarstuffandmaybeyoucanshareideasandsolveproblems together.