Prof. Dr. ir. Jana Asselman is the head of the Blue Growth Research Lab. She coordinates the multidisciplinary UGent research facilities located at Ostend Science Park. Her research interests include marine biotechnology, biodiscovery of marine natural products, nano- and microplastics, sustainable aquaculture, molecular and in vitro toxicology and broad human and environmental health challenges associated with the blue economy. Prof. Dr. ir. Asselman has expertise in marine natural product discovery in sea spray. She also has experience with human and environmental health effects of chemical pollution, including micro- and nanoplastics.

Idalina Gonçalves, junior researcher at the Department of Materials and Ceramic Engineering (DEMaC) and CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials of the University of Aveiro (UA) was awarded the prestigious international FEMS Materials Science & Technology Prize, attributed by the Federation of European Materials Societies (FEMS).

Project Leader at Insitute of Biotechnology, RWTH Aachen University. Her current research interests cover analytical method development for product detection, screening assay development for enzyme engineering, enzyme engineering towards different properties, structure and function relationship analysis. The main objectives of her research over the past five years were sulfotransferase engineering for regioselective functionalization of catechols, and pharmaceuticals as well as P450BM3 engineering towards hydroxylation of surfactants.

Research scientific on Engineering of microbial communities, Transformation of lignocellulose and plastics, Meta-omics characterization of microbial communities, Microbial ecology of marine and terrestrial ecosystems.

PhD Candidate & Inaugural American Pacific Research Fellow.
Member of the Coates Lab, departament of Plant and Microbial biology at the University of California, Berkeley, USA.

Miguel Oliveira is an academic researcher from University of Aveiro - Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) & Department of Biology.
He has contributed to research in topics: Microplastics & Shrinkage.

Motivated and hardworking scientist and innovator with a strong background in enzymatic synthesis of bio-based functional polyesters and surface functionalization/hydrolytic processing of various polymers. Excellent knowledge in enzymology, polymer-related analytical techniques and innovative reaction systems. Experience as EU and national projects manager, team leader/supervisor and university lecturer.

M. Auxiliadora Prieto is a Research Professor at CSIC and is the coordinator of SusPlast platform, an interdisciplinary technology platform for sustainable plastic of CSIC. She leads the Polymer Biotechnology group as part of the Microbial and Plant Biotechnology Department of the Biological Research Centre Margarita Salas (CIB-CSIC). Her group has developed many techniques to approach basic and industrial problems in the fields of bio-plastics, bio-materials and bio-production. She has huge experience in microbial metabolism for the molecular characterisation of pathways related to bio-synthesis and bio-degradation of bio-products. The significance of the research developed in Prieto's group is reflected in highly-cited publications in leading journals, as well as in collaborations with other scientists from top institutes all over the world. Prof. Prieto has participated in, led and coordinated national (14) and international projects (9), devoting her effort to the production of bio-polymers in microorganisms, addressing this subject from different approaches to cover both basic and applied aspects. The sub-team directly involved in this Project includes Dr Manuel Santiago Godoy (Postdoc, Metabolic engineering).

Dr. Maryam Salehi is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Memphis and earned her Ph.D. in Civil Engineering (Environmental) from Purdue University in 2017. She obtained her MSc in Civil Engineering from the University of South Alabama, where she earlier conducted her Post Doctoral research. In addition to her studies in Civil Engineering, Dr. Salehi holds BSc, MSc, and Ph.D. degrees in Textile Engineering. She has been conducting multidisciplinary research at the interface of material science and environmental engineering to protect public health, for a decade. Also, she has been applying her expertise in nanotechnology, water chemistry, polymer, and surface science to investigate the contaminant fate within drinking water infrastructure. Dr. Salehi has co-authored several peer-review journal publications and has also presented in many national and international conferences. She is doing engineering and scientific research aimed to understand and predict the sustainability of drinking water infrastructure, and water treatment technologies.

University assistant at Polytechnical University of Timisoara (UPT), Faculty of Industrial Chemistry and Environmental Engineering.
Doctoral thesis title: Enzymatic synthesis and characterization of new polyester biomaterials.
Master's degree on: Applied Food Chemistry at UPT. The main subjects studied: biotechnology, advanced fermentation processes, spectral methods, physical chemistry of interfaces, food additives, toxicology and legislation, chromatography and analysis thermal, food degradation, chemical reactivity and biological activity.
Engineering degree specializing in Biochemical Engineering at "Babeş" University Bolyai", Cluj Napoca Faculty of Chemistry and Biochemical Engineering. The main subjects studied: biochemistry, genetic engineering, microbiology, cell biology, genetics molecular, bioprocess engineering, biocatalysis, mass transfer, fluid mechanics, organic chemistry.

I have more than 15 years of experience in Fermentation technologies and Eco-Engineering of microbial consortia for the conversion of waste streams into biofuels, green chemicals and biopolymers, following a Biorefinery concept.My overall research interest is within the development of Defined Mixed Consortia and Process Optimization. Moreover, I have a strong focus on the biodegradation of recalcitrant compounds such as pesticides and plastics.

Group leader on plastic biodegradation. His research group is working on isolation, characterization, and engineering of a wide range of enzymes with depolymerization activities on synthetic polymers. They are aiming at a sustainable biobased circular plastic economy.

Nick Wierckx is leader of the department of Microbial Catalysis in the Institute of Bio- and Geosciences IBG-1 of the Forschungszentrum Jülich. He is also appointed as full professor at the Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf. His research focuses on the bio-based production of chemicals from biomass or waste streams using microorganisms. Major research themes include metabolic engineering of bacteria and fungi, the microbial conversion of plastic waste, the development and application of synthetic biology tools and the systems analysis of microbial metabolism.