Dr. Eun Joong Oh, Assistant Professor in the Department of Food Science at Purdue University, is set to present a public awareness talk entitled “Yeast Metabolic Engineering for Sustainable Production of Food Ingredients and Value-Added Products” on 24th July 2024 (Wednesday), 10:30 am under the Sarawak Biodiversity Centre’s (SBC) series of public talks.

Dr. Oh's groundbreaking research focuses on the biotechnological production of food ingredients and value-added chemicals using engineered yeast strains. His work addresses the critical challenges facing current industrial fermentation processes, such as high feedstock costs and low productivity, by employing advanced metabolic engineering techniques to enhance cellular activity.

In his talk, Dr. Oh will outline how rational and combinatorial approaches can be used to develop engineered yeast strains capable of rapid and efficient fermentation of abundant sugars from non-food plant biomass. This innovation could significantly impact the sustainable production of biofuels and other value-added products.

The talk will take place at SBC’s Integrated Biodiversity Research Building (IBRB) located at Jalan Borneo Heights, Semengoh. Join us and register for free via https://shorturl.at/j3o5h (Physical attendance) or alternatively those interested can stream the live webinar on SBC’s official Facebook page at www.facebook.com./sarawak.biodiversity.centre and via zoom at https://bit.ly/SBC-Public-Talk. 

Attendees will have the opportunity to learn more about the future of biotechnology and its potential to create sustainable solutions for industrial challenges.  For more information, those interested can email Alamat emel ini dilindungi dari Spambot. Anda perlu hidupkan JavaScript untuk melihatnya..

More nations are recognising the rich biodiversity of seagrass in their waters and the economic and climate value it avails to a healthy ocean, coastal communities, and initiatives to address climate change challenges.

On 16 March 2022, Sarawak Biodiversity Centre (SBC) will be hosting a webinar entitled ‘Seagrass Ecology and Diversity’ at 10.00 am via Zoom. The webinar will be delivered by a distinguished speaker, Prof Dr Muta Harah Zakaria, Professor at the Department of Aquaculture, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). This webinar will provide latest insights into the ecology and diversity of seagrass in Malaysia.

Prof Dr Muta will share interesting findings on current seagrass distribution and status, particularly highlighting losses, and various threats to seagrass in Malaysia. In addition, Prof Dr Muta will also speak on the significance of seagrass in terms of its ecological functions, source of food and as an essential reservoir of coastal biodiversity.

Over the past 20 years, her team has conducted studies on taxonomy and biology, ecology and distribution, utilization, molecular genetics, and bioprospecting of marine macrophytes and freshwater plants. She has been involved in Projects on Seagrass Ecology, sub-section Marine Ecology of Aquatic Resources and Environmental Studies of the Straits of Malacca and Third Country Training Programs on seagrass and mangrove ecology under the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA).
 
Prof Dr Muta has authored in more than 200 publications in various journals, proceedings, and books. She is also a reviewer of various journals and serves as a member of the World Seagrass Association (WSA) and International Society for Southeast Asian Agriculture Science (ISSAAS).

Grab this opportunity to get first-hand insights from an expert and register via Zoom at https://shorturl.at/pKX18. Please share with your friends. This talk will also be streamed live on SBC’s official Facebook page at  www.facebook.com/sarawak.biodiversity.centre. Social media users are encouraged to “like or follow” SBC’s official Facebook page for the latest updates and information.

Thank you for your continuous support to SBC’s Biodiversity awareness and appreciation webinar series.