Post Doctoral Associate

Biotechnology Insitute

University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (Minneapolis, MN)

Claudia Schmidt-Dannert

Genetic and metabolic engineering for efficient biofuel production.

My interests include renewable biofuel processes and system energy optimization analysis. My current research project involves the design of genetically modified microbial communities to efficiently produce biodiesel fuel.

As a graduate student at Rutgers University, I worked on designing sustainable waste management systems that can effectively contribute bioenergy resources to public renewable portfolios. I also worked with the Burlington County Resource Recovery Complex (NJ, USA), which operates an active bioreactor landfill. I analyzed operational data, identified lacking data sets, and carried out fundamental research in order to optimize energy generation from municipal solid waste.

My doctoral dissertation ("Enhancing Energy Recovery from Biomass Waste Streams – from Mega-landfills and Biorefineries to Microbial Communities") focused on conceptual design of integrated heterogeneous organic-material processing systems that seek to maximize biofuel product accumulation, and minimize toxic byproduct generation. Specific focus was placed on optimizing natural methane generation for bioenergy recovery as well the fate of inorganic nitrogen species byproducts produced during organic decomposition. My research sought to characterize possible trade-offs at the microbial and chemical level that control system biofuel output. These aspects have profound implications for designing highly controlled and optimized reaction schemes for biorefinery applications.

Currently, as a Postdoctoral Associate at the University of Minnesota Biotechnology Institute, I am seeking to obtain a greater understanding of the biochemical and molecular techniques required to engineer genetically and metabolically modified microbial communities that can efficiently produce sustainable biofuels to replace conventional fossil derived transportation fuels.