Michael is a phycologist with an interest in all things algae. To date, he has cultivated algae for a variety of purposes including aquaculture feed, bioenergy, bioremediation of nutrients and heavy metals, CO2 sequestration, and for the production of high-value compounds. His main role is to manage and authorise the CCAP budget and ensure delivery of contracts and reporting. He will also have overall responsibility for the new CCAP-ARIES facility.
He is interested in algae biotechnology for a variety of applications.
Michael's recent research on the ABACUS project investigated algae for the production of high-value compounds, including carotenoids and terpenoids, for application in cosmetic and nutraceutical markets. He is now involved in the IMTA-related projects IMPAQT and ASTRAL.
Michael's Ph.D. thesis, at the University of Edinburgh and SAMS, was entitled “Wastewater treatment by filamentous macroalgae”. This research investigated the potential of Cladophora parriaudii to remove nutrients and heavy metals from wastewaters.
While at CSAR, Swansea University, He was involved with the EnAlgae and BioAlgaeSorb projects. The main purposes of these projects were to investigate algae for the remediation of nutrients and flue gases and/or to produce algal biofuels.