Sasi NayarSasi Nayar leads the Algal Production Group and manages the Algae and Biofuels Facility (ABF). ABF, hosted at SARDI’s Aquatic Sciences facility at West Beach, which is funded by the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy. He has over20 years experience researching environmental and biotechnological applications of microalgae / phytoplankton. Current research is applied, undertaken for several Australian and overseas industry partners and clients. His research on seaweeds commenced unravelling the ecological role of epiphytic algae in nutrient assimilation in anthropogenically impacted seagrass meadows off the Adelaide metropolitan coastline. Over subsequent years he has diversified his expertise in ecology, biology and physiology of seaweeds, to biotechnological, environmental and industrial applications of cultivated seaweeds. In 2008, in partnership with Science to Manage Uncertainty, he was involved in successfully developing a proof-of-concept seaweed based nutrient scrubber system to remediate the effluent stream of a nitrogen constrained industry in South Australia. Later, in 2010 he co-led a joint industry and state government funded project on developing sustainable land based seaweed production to supply a diverse range of marketable seaweed products and services such as novel abalone feeds, bioactives, human food, and bioremediation of nutrient and carbon enriched industrial waste water streams. The collaborative project involved several commercial companies, policy makers and researchers from multiple institutions. He has also been involved in assisting an Australian industry group establish a seaweed production facility in conjunction with finfish cage farming in Southeast Asia for food and feed applications. More recently he was lead author on a comprehensive report that reviewed global efforts in seaweed production and utilisation with a specific focus to develop a sustainable South Australian seaweed industry. He has a keen interest in progressing the development of sustainable land based seaweed cultivation to support industry by meeting their demand for biomass for various applications. He serves on the executive committee of the International Society for Applied Phycology and was a member of the Local Organising Committee of the 5th ISAP Congress in Sydney in 2014. Read More Read Less