Advancing the Algae Industry through Research and
Development at Cornell University
Dr. Beth A. Ahner, Professor, Department of Biological and
Environmental Engineering, Cornell University
ABSTRACT
As a major research institution in the Northeast there are many ways for
Cornell to participate in the development of regional and global algal
production facilities. On the Cornell campus in Ithaca NY, researchers
from the College of Agriculture and Life Science are working closely with
faculty from the College of Engineering to solve some of the challenges
associated with making large-scale algae production facilities
technologically and economically feasible. Activities range from algae
production to product recovery to product development to system level life cycle assessment. To aid
algae production, one example is a project focused on the development of diagnostic tools for
monitoring various aspect of algae physiology. To facilitate product recovery, chemical engineers are
studying novel disruption and processing techniques to extract and recover lipids and other products.
Animal scientists are conducting feeding trials of algal-based nutritional supplements in chickens and
pigs. In addition, we are training the next generation of scientists and engineers to think creatively
about new technologies and sustainable solutions to energy and product demands.
BIOGRAPHY
Professor Beth Ahner has been in the Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering at
Cornell University since 1996, after receiving her Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from MIT.
One of the questions Beth asks in her research is how can organisms be harnessed to produce raw
materials or fuel in a sustainable manner? Beth works in the area of biomolecular farming-- the
production of specialty enzymes and proteins in transgenic plants and algae, and algal biomass as a
biofuel source.