Marta Carballa

Marta Carballa is an Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain). She holds a Chemical Engineering degree (2001) and a PhD in Chemical and Environmental Engineering (2005), both from USC. Her career includes postdoctoral research at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso (Chile) and Ghent University (Belgium), followed by a fellowship at USC's Department of Chemical Engineering.

Education:

• Bachelor's in Chemical Engineering, USC (2001)
• PhD in Chemical and Environmental Engineering, USC (2005)

Research Interests:

• Targeted volatile fatty acid (VFA) production via mixed-culture anaerobic fermentation
• Biotransformation mechanisms of organic micropollutants in wastewater/sludge treatment
• Biorefinery systems for macroalgae and organic waste valorization

Her work integrates metabolic modeling, process optimization, and microbial community dynamics to advance sustainable resource recovery and pollution mitigation.

Recent Research Trends:

• Focus on scaling VFA production from food waste and industrial byproducts
• Development of model-driven strategies for co-culture fermentation systems
• Exploration of anaerobic digestion for pharmaceutical removal in sludge treatment

Awards & Recognition:

• Outstanding Poster Award for anaerobic reactor microbiome research (2017)
• Distinction for co-digestion feasibility study (2013)

Grants & Projects:

• Principal investigator in 8 international projects, 2 national projects, and 6 industry contracts
• Current leadership in projects like ODDITY (biorefinery design) and SAFESLUDGE (pharmaceutical removal)

Advising & Mentorship:

• Supervised 10 doctoral theses (4 ongoing) and multiple master's projects
• Focus areas include protein fermentation optimization and micropollutant biotransformation

Labs & Collaborations:

• Partnerships with institutions like Ghent University (Belgium), Helmholtz Centre (Germany), and JSI (Slovenia)
• Led the development of pilot-scale anaerobic digestion systems for livestock waste