Algae is the New Black

Professor of Marine Biology at UTS, and executive director of the Climate Change Cluster (C3) in the Faculty of Science. He is also the founder of the Deep Green Biotech Hub, member of the IOC-UNESCO Blue Carbon International Scientific Working Group and former leader of the CSIRO Marine and Coastal Carbon Biogeochemistry Cluster. Within C3, Peter leads two research programs: Algae Biosystems and Biotechnology, and Seagrass Health.

A former aerospace engineer, ex R+D director of Pepsico and Mars, Nick is a consultant and inventor working on product, technology and business innovations in fast moving consumer goods (FMCG). A senior lecturer in UTS's groundbreaking Bachelor of Creative Intelligence and Innovation degree and a fellow of Cambridge University Institute for manufacturing, Nick is passionate about food and innovation and has worked on many of the food and drinks products you see in the supermarket today.

Donna has over 15 years’ research and consultancy experience on water quality, algae and ecology across a wide range of waterscapes. Donna is a specialist in green-water technology, utilising algae to treat wastewater, reducing pollution and recovering resources (nutrients, water and energy) to be used for the manufacture of complex chemicals, biofuels, bioplastics and pharmaceuticals. Her research involves the evaluation and optimisation of green-water technologies, at a range of scales, for enhanced biomass yield and pollutant removal.

Mark is a fashion and textile designer focused on advancing fashion design through the application of scientific principles to traditional techniques. He is an acknowledged pioneer in zero-waste fashion design in the sustainable fashion movement in London. He ran a purely zero-waste fashion label and exhibited in Estethica at London Fashion Week for several seasons.

His work bridges the gap between fashion and science, opening up new possibilities such as teaching STEAM skills through fashion design. Mark holds a PhD from UTS and a Master of Textiles Futures from Central Saint Martins College. His commissions have taken him all over the world exhibiting in museums in the UK, US, China, India, Korea, Amsterdam, Denmark and Australia.

Richard’s passion for beer started with a home brew kit over 20 years ago and graduated to having his beers drunk in backyards across Australia, downed in New York bars and Beijing pool halls, and quaffed by the pint in English pubs.

Having founded Barons Brewing in 2005 and created the Black Wattle Ale, which started the trend of using Australian native ingredients in beer, Richard went on to start Young Henrys in 2012.
Young Henrys is a brewery and distillery in the heart of creative Newtown. Its approach is to be at one with its community, and it has expressed this by embracing music, art and culture. This has seen the brewery collaborate to make unique brews with the likes of the Foo Fighters, FBi Radio, Kylie Kwong and the Art Gallery of NSW.

Brooke is a Gamilaroi Gomeroi woman, an accomplished journalist and UTS graduate. She has worked as a reporter at SBS, NITV and the ABC, covering two election campaigns, multiple leadership spills and four PMs, as well as writing extensively about what it’s like to be an Aboriginal person in Australia. She is currently Triple J's breakfast newsreader.