Francisca Vermeulen

Dr. Francisca Vermeulen is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Algal Biotechnology at the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), part of the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI). She specializes in harmful algal blooms research and commercial microalgal cultivation, with active involvement in EU Horizon 2020 and EIT-Food funded projects.

Her educational background includes:

• PhD in Ecophysiology and Molecular Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, NZ (2013)
• MSc in Cellular and Molecular Biology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, NL (2010)
• BSc in Biotechnology and Molecular Sciences Laboratory Technician, Hogeschool Leiden, NL (2007)

Dr. Vermeulen's research centers on environmental factors driving harmful algal blooms and industrial-scale microalgal cultivation for biotechnology applications. With 4+ years of commercial experience, she developed a novel astaxanthin induction protocol for Haematococcus sp. now implemented in factory production. Her work bridges laboratory research with industrial nutraceutical production, emphasizing sustainable aquaculture practices and product quality optimization.

She supervises MSc student Joss Main (2023) on astaxanthin stability for nutraceuticals. Current research focuses on the EU Horizon 2020 ASTRAL project (2020-2024) assessing Atlantic aquaculture sustainability, while previous work includes co-organizing EIT-Food courses on algal biotechnology (2022).

Dr. Vermeulen contributes to academic instruction as Lecturer for SAMS UHI's 'Marine Biotechnology' module and Strathclyde University's 'Blue Biotechnology' program, while maintaining professional affiliations with Algae UK and the British Phycological Society.