Waste, weather and the world we shape.

Speaker: Mirva Sarafidou, postdoctoral researcher at DTU
Title: From Waste to Value: Turning Food Residues into Sustainable Packaging
Summary:
I am a Food Scientist & Bioprocess Engineer who transforms everyday food and agricultural leftovers into sustainable materials. Over the past six years, I have worked with residues such as sugar beet pulp, brewer’s spent grain, and plant fibres to develop biopolymers and convert them into biodegradable films, coatings, and packaging that reduce our reliance on plastics. In this talk, we will explore how “waste” can become valuable, why biopolymers are emerging as a key part of a circular economy, and how science can turn simple side streams into materials with real impact

Speaker: Alba Martínez I Quer, Postdoctoral Researcher at DTU
Title: What if water treatment plants were actually made of plants?
Summary:
Wetlands are among nature's most powerful ecosystems, quietly filtering water, cycling nutrients, and sustaining life for millions of years. Ancient societies instinctively settled beside them, sensing something remarkable was happening. In the 1960s, scientists began asking: what if we could engineer this? Constructed wetlands were born. Yet despite decades of research, much of what happens inside these green filters remains poorly understood. And now, modern contaminants, such as antibiotics and pesticides, are pushing them to their limits. Can nature keep up?

Speaker: Jade Ajagun-Brauns, PhD in Climate physics
Title: Unpacking the AMOC: investigating an uncertain future with fingerprints in climate
Summary:
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation or AMOC is a vital component of global ocean circulation, influencing regional climates and weather patterns. As anthropogenic climate change continues to unfold throughout the 21st century, this circulation system is expected to weaken to a fraction of its pre-industrial strength. However, due to a shortage of long-term historical observations of the AMOC and a widespread in climate model projections, the magnitude of this weakening trend remains uncertain. In this talk, we’ll explore the importance of the AMOC, discuss uncertainty in future climate pathways and discover how fingerprints may aid our understanding of future AMOC stability.