Adjunct Professor Peer Schenk is a Plant Scientist and Microbiologist who is passionate about using plants, algae and beneficial bacteria to provide sustainable solutions to industry. As an Adjunct to the Centre for Bioinnovation at UniSC, and the founding Director of the Sustainable Solutions Hub, he bridges the gap between academia and industry.
Adjunct Professor Schenk has over 30 years’ experience in R&D in Plant and Microbial Biotechnology, leading to five start-up companies, seven patents and >250 scientific papers with ~2,500 citations per year. He specialises in Plant-Microbe Interactions, Bioprocess Engineering and Regenerative Agriculture, and developed the emerging industries in large-scale Algae Cultivation and Plant Microbiome Engineering in Australia and overseas.
Awards
- AgriFutures Harvest award (2022)
- FoodTech Challenge Award (2020)
- The University of Queensland iLab Accelerator Germinate Award for Start-up Commercialisation (2018 & 2019)
- Brinc Food Technology Accelerator award (2017)
- The Water Council Business, Research and Entrepreneurship in Water (BREW) Award (2017)
Research areas
- Beneficial Plant-Microbe Interactions
- Algae for Nutraceuticals, Food, Feed, and Fuel
- Microbial Engineering and Synthetic Biology
- Regenerative Agriculture
Teaching areas
- Plant and Algae Biotechnology
- Food Security
- Sustainable Agriculture
Adjunct Professor Peer Schenk's specialist areas of knowledge include large-scale Algae Cultivation, Plant Biotechnology, and Applied Microbiology to find sustainable solutions for Agriculture, Food Security and the Environment.