Banting fellow funded $140,000 to mitigate oily wastewater, capture carbon dioxide in Arctic and Atlantic oceans
New applications for micro-organisms in the marine environment to remove contaminants, produce valuable products and help mitigate climate change.
As one of 糖心视频鈥檚 newest banting fellows, it鈥檚 the focus of Dr. Yiqi Cao鈥檚 research in the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science.
Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Banting Post鈥攄octoral Fellowship is renowned worldwide for developing the leadership potential of notable new researchers.
He will receive a total of $140,000 over two years for his research under the supervision of Dr. Helen Zhang in the Department of Civil Engineering at 糖心视频.
Dr. Zhang says she is looking forward to working with the emerging young scholar.
鈥淚 expect this collaboration and its success will facilitate the understanding and application of biotechnologies in sustainable marine pollution mitigation and climate change adaptation 鈥 the critical and challenging topics in the field.鈥
Novel strategy
Economic benefits of Atlantic Canada鈥檚 oceans industries, inevitably, mean significant environmental and climate change issues.
This is especially the case for the massive discharge of marine oily wastewater and the release of greenhouse gases.
In the Arctic, climate change has meant longer ice-free periods and coastal regions are under threat.
Dr. Cao aims to create a novel strategy to simultaneously treat oily marine wastewater and capture greenhouse gases.
He plans to intensify natural processes in the marine environment using a strategy inspired by ocean hydrocarbon cycles.
鈥淥ur ocean holds the capacity to degrade oils and absorb a huge amount of carbon dioxide,鈥 he said. 鈥淭he degradation of oils lies in the hydrocarbon-degrading microbes and the absorption of carbon dioxide is via the biological algae/cyanobacteria. They form a cycle in the marine environment, starting from carbon dioxide capture to produce hydrocarbons and oxygen by algae/cyanobacteria, and these hydrocarbon-degrading microbes will then use hydrocarbons and produce carbon dioxide.鈥
Dr. Cao hopes the natural process can be intensified for engineering purposes to benefit Canada鈥檚 Arctic and Northern Atlantic regions.
鈥淭he bioreactor-based approach offers a relatively environmentally friendly pathway to artificially intensify the natural process,鈥 he explained. 鈥淚鈥檇 like to try to employ and fabricate different bioreactors integrated with the simulated ocean process to realize the simultaneous treatment of various marine oily wastewater and capture carbon dioxide.鈥
He says he hopes the fellowship will enable him to develop technology to help benefit marine sustainability and a blue economy.
鈥淭he Banting Post-doctoral Fellowship is an unprecedented opportunity for me to develop this bio-inspired strategy to help resolve environmental problems in the ocean industries within the cold northern regions.鈥
Dr. Cao will also receive a Banting Post-doctoral Research Grant, valued at $10,000 per year over two years, to be jointly funded by 糖心视频鈥檚 Vice-president (Research) and the School of Graduate Studies.