Carrine Blank

Background

About Carrine Blank

Applied Research: Co-founder of CarbonNutra LLC, a company that uses microalgae and waste crustacean shells to clean waste waters and generate low carbon microalgal bioproducts. Our patented research uses an alternative to conventional nitrogen fertilizers for growing microalgae - chitin. Chitin is an all-natural, organic, sustainably harvested nitrogen source that is a waste-product of the shellfish industry. Our published research shows that we significantly increase oil and carotenoid content of microalgal biomass, while dramatically reducing the greenhouse gas footprint of the algal biomass and bioproducts. Our unique technology cleans wastewater (removing phosphorus to below 12 ppb in pulp and paper mill wastewater, removing mercaptan odors from production wastewater) while not adding any nitrogen back into the water. We can also remove phosphorus from natural (lake/stream/canal) waters down to 9 ppb. We have a culture collection of over 150 microalgal and cyanobacterial strains that grow under a multitude of environmental conditions, so we can match any industrial wastewater with an appropriate strain. Our current focus is on isolating new microalgae and Cyanobacteria that synthesize a wide variety of natural pigments. Basic Research: As a research scientist performed research on microbial phylogenomics, constructed an ontology for microorganisms, and developed natural language processing tools to automatically capture and code microbial phenotypes at large scale. Developed a new method for constraining the geologic age of major microbial groups (Phylogenomic Dating).