Valerie Ward

Valerie Ward is an Associate Professor and Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Microalgae Biomanufacturing at the University of Waterloo's Department of Chemical Engineering. Her research focuses on synthetic biology and metabolic engineering to improve biomanufacturing processes, particularly in microalgae and bacteria for producing isoprenoids, recombinant proteins, and therapeutic products. She leads the Microalgae Biomanufacturing Lab and serves as Interim Director of the Waterloo Centre for Microbial Research and Associate Editor of Algal Research.

Education:

• PhD in Chemical Engineering, Western University (2016)
• MASc in Chemical Engineering, University of Waterloo (2012)
• BSc in Biology, University of Waterloo (2009)
• Postdoctoral Fellowship, MIT (2018)

Research Interests: Biochemical engineering, industrial biotechnology, synthetic biology, metabolic engineering, microalgae biotechnology, recombinant protein production, and ionic liquids applications. Her work emphasizes scalable bioprocesses for sustainable production of pharmaceuticals, biomaterials, and biofuels.

Recent Research Trends: Recent articles focus on optimizing antimicrobial materials, microbial bioprocess modeling, microalgae cultivation systems, and protein expression in algae. Key themes include closed-loop aquaculture systems, UV disinfection strategies, and ionic liquid-mediated extraction techniques.

Awards:

• Canada Research Chair Tier 2 (2024)
• NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship (2017)
• Editor’s Choice Award (2019)
• E.D.J Murray Scholarship (2015)

Teaching & Service: Teaches courses like BME 285 (Engineering Biology) and CHE 663 (Bioseparations). Active in academic service, including editorial and center leadership roles.

Labs & Teams: Directs the Microalgae Biomanufacturing Lab, collaborating on projects involving bioreactor engineering, genetic tools for algae, and sustainable biomanufacturing systems.