I am 26 years old and recently finished my PhD in Biotechnology at UWC. I started my studies at UWC in 2017, then graduated Summa Cum Laude for my undergrad (BSc Biotechnology) in 2020 and Cum Laude for my Honours in 2021, respectively. My postgraduate studies were hosted by Prof. Riaan Den Haan’s in the Yeast Lab and focussed around engineering the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae for alternative sugar and sugar polymer utilization in the context of second-generation biofuels. I started with my MSc in Biotechnology in 2021. I managed to get really good results early on, resulting in an article co-authored by me and my Prof. Den Haan being published in the Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology in early 2022. Thanks to the work I had yielded through my Master’s degree up to June 2022, my publication, and the support of my supervisor, I was able to upgrade my MSc degree to a PhD degree. I expanded on the research I had done from the start of 2021 and was able to finish with my experimental work towards the end of 2024. I submitted my PhD thesis early in 2025 and I am currently waiting for my thesis to be accepted, as well as for graduation later in the year.
In 2025, the Yeast Lab was integrated into the Institute for Microbial Biotechnology and Metagenomics (IMBM). I am hoping to start with my postdoctoral research here shortly, where I will provisionally be expanding on the research performed during my PhD. The project yielded good results but also left some unanswered questions and potential results to be generated that could be invaluable to the improvement of second-generation biofuel operations. This research will expand on my previous research in a way that will give us a lot more insight on the pathways and metabolic engineering techniques used in these strains. I will also be performing other duties in the lab as a PostDoc, including supervision of Honours students, lab maintenance, culture and equipment management, as well as general responsibilities.