Student team led by SIU prof seeks to use algae to grow out-of-this-world crops

Read the full story from Southern Illinois University.

A team of students led by a researcher at Southern Illinois University Carbondale is one of just 15 nationwide finalists for the U.S. Department of Energy AlgaePrize 2023-2025 Competition. And if the Carbondale team succeeds, its project could be used to grow crops in off-Earth environments such as its moon and Mars.  

The AlgaeUnlocked team, led by Scott D. Hamilton-Brehm, associate professor in the School of Biological Sciences, receives $10,000 and will spend the next year or so working on its research project, which centers on using microalgae combined with another patented technology created by an SIU spinoff company to produce biostimulants and biofuels. Composed of students from SIU and Carbondale Community High School, AlgaeUnlocked competed against almost 50 other teams nationwide.

The contest’s focus is finding better ways to process and use microalgae, Hamilton-Brehm said. SIU’s track record of groundbreaking research helped the team “connect the dots” on using oxidative hydrothermal dissolution (OHD) and microalgae to potentially feed and support future space exploration.