André Bellin Mariano
​He is an adjunct professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at UFPR and carries out research in the areas of renewable energies, innovation and entrepreneurship. He coordinates the Self-Sustainable Energy Research and Development Center (NPDEAS) with a focus on the production of microalgae in photobioreactors for the production of biomass, biofuels and the treatment of emissions and effluents. She has a Productivity Scholarship in Technological Development and Innovative Extension (CNPq) and extensive experience in research, extension, technological innovation and sustainability projects. She coordinates the i9UFPR Research Group - Innovation Ecosystem, as well as various Extension Programs and Projects focused on training human resources using the Startup Experience Initiative methodology. He has a PhD in Science (Biochemistry) and a degree in Industrial Pharmacy and Biochemistry from UFPR. He has published more than 750 scientific papers, including articles, books, book chapters, technological products and patents.
Agustín Rearte
​Professor at Buenos Aires University (UBA) and Researcher of the CONICET (Argentina). Professor with exclusive dedication at the Faculty of Agronomy from the University of Buenos Aires (FAUBA), Argentina. He is also an Assistant Researcher of the Council National Scientific and Technical Research Institute (CONICET) and Director of the Culture Collection of Microalgae at FAUBA (CCM-FAUBA). He is focused on bioprospection of microalgae to produce commercial interest compounds, wastewater treatment with microalgae, photobiology, and culture optimization. He collaborates with several companies on different projects on microalgae and he is also the PI of several research projects on this topic at laboratory and industrial scale.
Dárlio Inácio Alves Teixeira
Professor at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN, Brazil). Fishery Engineer, master's and doctorate in Biochemistry from UFC, with exchanges at the University of Portsmouth - England and Universidad de Magallanes - Chile. Leads projects in Aquaculture and Mariculture at the Jundiaí Agricultural School, being president of SBFic and partner of Terramar. Leader of the Sustainable Northeast Aquaculture Research Group.
Fabiana Rodrigues Câmara
​Professor at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN, Brazil). PhD in Ecology and Natural Resources from UFSCar/SP and master’s in aquatic Bioecology from UFRN. Professor of Limnology and Live Food Production at EAJ/UFRN, coordinates the Live Food Production Laboratory of the institution. Her studies focus on aquatic ecology and food production for aquatic organisms.
Gabriel Acién
​Full Professor at Almeria University (UAL, Spain). Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Almeria. He is vice-president of European Algae Biomass Association (EABA), member of the International Society for Applied Phycology and Latino American Society for Algal and Environmental Biotechnology. Major contributions to the Biotechnology of the microalgae field are related to the improvement of photobioreactors design, scale-up of production systems, and economic analysis of production processes. In the last time research was focused on microalgae biomass valorisation to improve the economic yield of microalgae-based processes. He publishes more than 250 scientific publication including papers, reviews and book chapter, their h index is 62. In addition, he develops up to 15 patents several of them already licenced to companies.
​Glauber Henrique de Sousa Nunes
​Full professor at the Federal Rural University of the Semi-Arid (UFERSA, Brazil). He is an agronomist with a master's and doctorate in genetics and plant breeding from the Federal University of Lavras (UFLA, Brazil). He holds a post-doctorate in genetic resources from the Federal University of Viçosa (UFV, Brazil) and a post-doctorate in the application of genomics to the improvement of cucurbits from the Polytechnic University of Valencia (Spain). He has worked mainly on the genetic improvement of cucurbits, genetic resources and experimental statistics.
​Hernan Kucher
​Research Analyst (AySA, Argentina). He is working as a Technical analyst for the company Agua y Saneamientos Argentinos S.A (www.aysa.com.ar). He is in charge of the development of applied research projects on sewage sludge valorization and sewage effluent treatments with green technologies: field trials, analysis in laboratory and office work analyzing data and doing surveys of information. He is also working as an Assistant in teaching at the FAUBA (Facultad de Agronomía, UBA), since 2012 and he will present his PhD at the end of this year.
Ingrid Mercado
​PhD Student at Andrés Bello University (Chile). Ingrid has experience in microalgae biotechnology, particularly in bioprospecting, waste treatment, and biomass valorization for energy purposes; and in bioproducts derived from microorganisms. She has been the Head of the Laboratory at LAB-BIOTEM S.A. (Ecuador), supervising the R&D&I areas focused on bacteria, microalgae, and fungi, and at Blueweight Biotech (India, Ecuador branch) in the development and evaluation of bioinputs for the productive sector. She is currently focused on epidemiology and genes involved in waste treatment at UNAB, in the Food Safety group of the department.
​Josemir Moura Maia
​Professor at the State University of Paraíba (UEPB, Brazil), with a degree in Plant Biochemistry from the UFC, including a PhD and Post-Doctorate. Coordinator of Entrepreneurship INOVATEC/UEPB and PPGCA. He coordinates LAPROV and leads the CNPq Research Groups. He develops scientific and technological solutions to the challenges of hydroponics in the Brazilian semi-arid region, with a focus on automation and personalized nutritional solutions based on plant physiology.
​Juan Andrés Sandoval
Professor at America University (UA, Colombia). Dr. Sandoval’s research focuses on wastewater treatment with microalgae, specifically in industrial wastewater treatment. He has written 27 scientific papers, 2 academical books (Fluid mechanics and Mass and energy balances), 3 editorial communications and 4 chapters of books, besides of ten podcasts related to different topics such as waste valorization, sustainability, and higher education. He has been invited to present his scientific results in some scientific events in Colombia and in Peru, Ecuador, and Italy (virtually). He has served as the advisor for 3 master’s students and 20 undergraduate students. Nowadays he is working in his doctorate with a scientific project related to hydrogen production by means of microalgae integrated with tannery wastewater treatment.
​Juliana Espada Lichston
​Full Professor at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN, Brazil). Graduated in Biological Sciences from USP, master's and doctorate in Comparative Biology also from USP. She conducted post-doctoral studies in Agriculture in Arid Lands at Ben-Gurion University - Israel. Full Professor and Researcher at UFRN, focusing on technologies for sustainable development of the semi-arid region, conservation of plant species, and use of plant and algal biomass for bioproducts and biofuels.
​Juana María Navarro Llorens
​Associate Professor at University Complutense of Madrid (UCM, Spain). She is an Associate Professor at the Biochemistry and Biology Department, UCM (Spain) and PI of the UCM group of metabolic Engineering since 2018. Her professional interest mainly lies in the Bacterial Genetics and Biotechnology field. She coordinates the Iberoamerican Cyted Network Renuwal since the beginning of 2020 (https://www.cyted.org/renuwal).
Lucas A. Martin
​Adjunct Researcher at CERZOS (CONICET-UNS, Argentina), PhD in Biology, he is an Adjunct Researcher at the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research. His research focuses on microalgae biorefining, particularly with diatoms. He is currently working on the bioremediation of gaseous effluents based on diatom carbon capture, sequestration and utilization (CCUS). Between 2021 and early 2024, he was president of the Argentine Phycology Association.
​Luisa Gouveia
Senior Researcher at National Laboratory of Geology and Technology, UBB – Bioenergy and Biorefineries Unit (LNEG, Portugal). Luisa Gouveia, PhD in Biotechnology, expert in Microalgae Biotechnology, has 115 peer-reviewed papers, 2 books, 17 book chapters, h-index=44, participated in 45 projects and coordinated 11, all related to food and feed-, biofuels-, bioactive compounds-, wastewater treatment-, CO2 mitigation-, biofertilizers- bioplastics- and biorefineries-based microalgae. Vice-Coordinator of Cost Action 1408-EUALGAE and Red Cyted RENUWAL and Coordinator of the Bilateral Portugal – Serbia.
Luisa Vera
​Associate Professor at La Laguna University (ULL, Spain). Luisa Vera is Associate Professor in the Chemical Engineering department of Universidad de La Laguna (ULL) and Head of research group on Wastewater Treatment and Reuse of ULL from 2021. She worked in the regional public company dedicated to R+D+i in the Canary Islands, Technological Institute of Canary Islands (ITC) between 2002 and 2011. She is co-author of 47 per reviewed papers on water treatments technologies, especially those based on membrane technologies, and her h-index Is 19. She has led 7 research projects and participated as researcher in more than 20 ones. She is also the Academic Director of the master’s degree in water management of the ULL, promoted by Tenerife Water Council and regional and national water enterprises, since 2018.
Patricia Marconi
​Full Professor at Faculty Biology (CEBBAD, UMAI-CONICET, Argentina). Her research focus on: 1) Plant tissue culture and genetic engineering for production secondary metabolites and molecular farming; 2) bioremediation strategies using a native algae Chlorella vulgaris. Other activities include the contribution in the RENUWAL (Iberoamerican network for the treatment of effluents with microalgae, CYTED) and REDBIO, (network of Biotech in Latin America and Caribbean, FAO). In this last organization, she provides support to organize congress and lectures. Also, she has a broad range of teaching experience, from extensive tutoring, organizing postgraduate courses and individual mentoring, to teaching undergraduate courses in botany and plant physiology in Faculty of Biology, U. Maimónides.
Rafael Silva Menezes
​Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation – Secretary of Technological Development and Innovation (MCTI-SETEC, Brazil). Agricultural Engineer, master's in Agricultural Sciences from UnB and PhD in Environmental Sciences from UFG. Science and Technology Analyst at MCTI, General Coordinator of Bordeaux University and Sectorial Technologies at SETEC/MCTI, leading ST&I policies for renewable energies, especially biofuels and hydrogen. With extensive experience in agronomy and bioenergy, he worked at ABIPTI and participated in strategic projects in agribusiness. He has courses in Knowledge Management, Biodiesel and Project Elaboration.
Roberto Bianchini Derner
​He is a full professor in the Department of Aquaculture at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC, Brazil), as well as supervisor of the Algae Cultivation Laboratory. He is a biologist with a master's degree in aquaculture and a doctorate in food science from UFSC. He works mainly in the area of fisheries resources and fisheries engineering and biotechnology, with an emphasis on aquaculture/algae farming, working with the cultivation of microalgae for the production of bioactive compounds, biofertilizers, plant biostimulants and the treatment of liquid and gaseous effluents.
Rosana de Cassia de Souza Schneider
​Professor at University of Santa Cruz do Sul (UNISC, Brazil). She holds bachelor's, master's, and Ph.D. degrees in Chemistry and completed a postdoctoral internship at the University of New South Wales, Australia. Currently, she works as a professor at the University of Santa Cruz do Sul, in southern Brazil, where she is responsible for the Environmental Technology Graduate Program – offering both master’s and Ph.D. degrees. With 35 years of research experience, her expertise lies in Analytical Instrumentation, particularly in oleochemistry, pesticide analysis, biofuel production (biodiesel and bioethanol), bioremediation, and water treatment. Since 2011, she has been involved in technological applications, focusing on microalgae production to develop bioproducts and wastewater bioremediation. She is currently a level 1D research productivity grantee from CNPq, Brazil.
Xavier Álvarez Montero
Professor and researcher at the ESPE-University of the Armed Forces in Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, Ecuador. From 2012 to 2017, Xavier completed the Ph.D. training at the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Xavier is a Biotechnology Engineering and Agricultural Engineering professor at the Department of Life Sciences and Agriculture. Xavier has led different research projects, including diversity of manglicolous marine ascomycetes, bioprospecting of marine ascomycetes in Antarctica, treatment of agro-industrial wastewater with microalgae and cyanobacteria, valorization of microalgae biomass in agriculture and bioenergy.
