ACES: Part 2: Microalgae

ATEC Announces Algae Cultivation Extension Short-course (ACES): Part 2: Microalgae Now Available!

This FREE Algae Cultivation Extension Short-course (ACES) is the extension/outreach component of the Algae Technology Educational Consortium (ATEC). Part 1 covered Macroalgae and Part 2 covers Microalgae.

The microalgae for aquaculture course is an online compendium of videos and online lectures chosen to give a thorough introduction into the culturing of various commercial microalgae, for those interested in the skill set and techniques required for the aquaculture industry. The course includes: a large number of videos produced by national and international programs, and guided PowerPoint presentations; including selections from the Santa Fe Community College, Introduction to Algae Cultivation online course. Offerings include cultivation and harvesting technologies, microscopy, algae species collections, nutrient media recipes, algae to fuel, carbon sequestration, food products and interviews with industry experts. There are additional chapters for the online algae culture collections, interviews and Ted Talks. There are several longer webinars and pdf documents about microalgae culture that can be downloaded.

ACES is a free on-line curriculum that covers both the U.S. perspective as well as inclusion of microalgae cultivation around the world. This course includes 148 online interviews, lectures, and instructional videos from individuals, universities, governments, NGOs and algae companies from around the world. There are also 17 links to algae collections, databases, supplemental reading, and social media.

Discover how microalgae cultivation skills can enhance your role in the aquaculture industry.

Register for FREE today!

Click here or register at the ATEC website http://www.algaefoundationatec.org/aces_intro2.html

Contact info: Dr. Stephen Gómez stephen.gomez@sfcc.edu or Dr. Ira Levine ilevine@maine.edu

This project was supported by the Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office, the Algae Foundation, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

ATEC Team Spotlight

Let’s meet Dr. Philip T Pienkos, a member of the ATEC team and the Algae Foundation board.

Dr. Pienkos earned his B.S. in Honors Biology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology at the University of Wisconsin. He is currently Strategic Project Lead in the National Bioenergy Center at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. He has more than 35 years of biotechnology experience in the pharmaceutical, chemical and energy sectors. He is a co-founder of two companies: Molecular Logix, an early stage drug discover/development company, and Celgene, a major biotech/pharma company.

He joined NREL in August, 2007 as Principal Research Supervisor to work in various aspects of cellulosic ethanol and algal biofuels production, and he has helped to established new areas for the biofuels R&D program including biological methane upgrading and waste to energy. He was promoted to Principal Group Manager in May, 2011 and refocused his efforts as Strategic Project Lead in 2018. Phil is principal investigator for two algae projects, one funded by DOE, focused on development of multi-product biorefinery concepts based on complete valorization of algal biomass, and one funded by the global mining company, BHP, to develop algal cultivation as means to remediate the water and produce biofuels at inactive mining sites.

He is heavily involved in partnership development efforts, and currently leads a small group of NREL scientists and engineers in the development of entrepreneurial skills for repurposing core technologies to expand R&D mission space. He is part of a team of algae experts from NREL and Sandia National Laboratory who worked with the Department of Energy to organize the National Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap Workshop held in December, 2008 and was a contributor to the National Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap document, published in May 2010, designed to be an instrument in the acceleration of the commercialization of algal biofuels.

Philip is a founding member of the Algae Biomass Organization and the Algae Foundation and has served as a member of the board of directors for both of those organizations. He has been named in Biofuels Digest’s list of the top 100 people in biofuels every year since that survey was established.