Visit to Bangor University
In February 2019 Dr. Tiina Leiviskä and MSc. Hanna Virpiranta made a visit to Bangor University in Wales, U.K. to collaborate with Prof. David Barrie Johnson’s group: “Bangor Acidophile Research Team” (BART). Hanna stayed there for two weeks working alongside with other visiting and post-doctoral researchers of the team. She acquired a lot of knowledge of e.g. operating sulfate-reducing bioreactors, plating of anaerobic microbes, and conducting bioleaching experiments, that she can exploit in her further research.
The Bangor Acidophile Research Team (BART) is based in the School of Biological Sciences at Bangor University. The group performs research on microbes which inhabit extreme environments, earning them the nickname ‘extremophiles’. The research has a particular emphasis on highly acidic environments, which has relevance for the SEESIMA project for the leachate of acid mine drainage and biomining. The research work is concentrated on the following areas
- commercial mineral leaching operations (‘biomining’)
- acid mine drainage
- geothermal areas
- acidic industrial wastewaters
The research activity focuses on the microbiology and molecular biology of these acidic environments, and the research group also develops novel bioengineering solutions for remediating acid mine drainage and industrial wastewaters.
The December 2011 issue of Scientific American listed Biomining as one of ten ‘world-changing ideas’.