Young Aussie #scientist follows her dream to produce clean #renewable #energy [#geekgirl]

La Trobe honours graduate Marianne Haines has been awarded prestigious Origin Foundation John Monash scholarship to undertake PhD at University of Calgary in 2018

Marianne will be taking a major step towards her dream of helping the world move to a more sustainable future as she looks to uncover the secrets behind using bacteria, fungi and algae to produce new forms of renewable energy.

The 24-year-old environmental microbiologist from Nagambie will be researching how to generate biofuel from photosynthetic micro-organisms after being awarded a prestigious scholarship to undertake a doctorate in Geoscience at the University of Calgary in Canada.

Ms Haines said, “Receiving the Origin Foundation John Monash scholarship is an incredible opportunity to contribute to addressing one of the most significant challenges of our time.

“My focus is on developing bio-technology that harnesses micro-organisms to generate new forms of sustainable energy. The tiny beings multiply on a diet of sunlight, water, CO2, and key nutrients. They can then be processed into an end-product like methane using a group of other micro-organisms. The net effect is the production of combustible biofuel in a carbon neutral manner.

“Having grown up on a property near Nagambie, my dream is that we can lead the world to sustainable, closed loop systems and products,” she added.

Source: Origin Foundation