Tania Vasconcelos Fernandes

Tania Vasconcelos Fernandes is an external researcher at Wageningen University & Research, affiliated with the Environmental Technology department. She actively contributes to interdisciplinary projects bridging environmental science, biotechnology, and microbial ecology through innovative wastewater and micropollutant removal research.

• Co-promotor for 4 PhD projects (2004–2023)
• Collaborator with Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) and international institutions

Her research focuses on leveraging microalgae-bacterial systems for bioremediation, including:

• Photobioreactor optimization under natural light
• Photogranules for surface water purification
• Ecotoxicological impacts of pharmaceutical-microplastic interactions
• Nutrient cycle closure in domestic systems
• Hydrolysis inhibition in biogas production

Publication trends reveal cross-disciplinary work spanning environmental engineering, microbial ecology, and aquatic toxicology, with emphasis on scalable biotechnologies for wastewater treatment and ecosystem protection.

Supervised work includes two PhD projects on pharmaceutical impacts and microalgae-based nutrient recovery, alongside datasets documenting antidepressant effects on freshwater snails and mesocosm ecosystem dynamics.

Collaborations extend across biochemical reactors, photogranules, and microbial community analysis, with sustained engagement in circular economy solutions since her 2004–2010 PhD on ammonia inhibition in hydrolysis.