Our group specialises in the use of microalgae for the valorisation of agri-food waste nutrients (e.g. whey permeate) into higher value products for feed, food and energy applications (e.g. omega-3 lipids and proteins for feed conversion), with research spanning both upstream and downstream areas in microalgae. The upstream research is concentrated on applying microalgae solutions to improve the sustainability of several agri-food sectors critical to Ireland’s decarbonisation efforts: dairy processing, beer production and anaerobic digestion (currently recruiting team members). Our downstream research, taken in collaboration with Teagasc, investigates a more cost-effective and energy-efficient approach to disrupting cell walls to enable full exploitation of different microalgae biomass components. Work to-date has focused on species belonging to the Nannochloropsis genus for their high lipid contents and significant dual potential in food/feed and biofuel applications.