Q:WhatdoesyourmicroTERRA do?
A:Wetakefishfarmwastewaterandgiveittoourmicroalgae.Thiscleansthewatersothewatercanbereused.Itsavesalotofwater,too.Italsohelpsstopdownstreampollutionthatwilldestroyecosystems.
Ourcompanyusesaspecialstrainofmicroalgae.Whenitgoesthroughphotosynthesis, itproducesprotein.Wethenprocesstheproteinfromthemicroalgaeintofoodforthe fish.
Q:Howdoyougrowthe microalgae?
A:Microalgaearemicroscopic.So,westartinthelabonasmallscale.Weknowwhatthemicroalgaelike.Weknowwhattheyneedtogrow.Andweknowwheretheythriveingeneral.Butwehavetoscaleupbecauseagricultureis huge.
Q:So,toscaleitup,youhavetogrowmassiveamountsof microalgae?
A:Weuseabioreactor.Wehavepretreatment [in the lab].Wehavebioreactorswherethemicroalgaegrowandaharvestertocollectthebiomass.Buildingtheharvesterwasachallenge.Ithadtoholdlargequantitiesofwastewater.Ithadtobecheapandeasytomanage, too.
Microalgaeconvertexcessnutrientsinwaterintoprotein.Theyalsorelease oxygen.
Q:Isitdangeroustoworkwith wastewater?
A:Wastewaterisfullofharmfulbacteria.Weuseglovesandwearmasksandgownsfor protection.
Floresexaminesatankfullofwastewaterand algae.
Afarmcreates wastewater.
Wastewaterisprocessedwith microalgae.
Cleanwaterandproteinare produced.
Proteinismadeintofish food.
Foodisusedtofeedfishon
the farm.
CircularEconomy
Q:Doyouhaveanyadviceforpeoplewhomightwanttobecomeenvironmental scientists?
A:Iwouldsaytostartonsmallprojects.Thinkofdifferentwaysyoucanreducewasteorpollutants.Itcouldbesomethinglikeatinywatertreatmentpond.Everytinyexperimentcounts!Telleveryoneaboutwhatyouaredoing.Maybeyoucanshareideasandsolveproblems together.