Sabine Kleinsteuber
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research GmbH, Germany
Title
Mixotrophic microbial consortia in anaerobic fermentation: A biotechnological route to carbon-efficient waste upcycling
Bio
Dr Sabine Kleinsteuber is a senior scientist in the Department of Microbial Biotechnology at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) in Leipzig, Germany. She earned her Diplom and PhD in Biology from Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg. She has been a member of the UFZ's scientific staff since 1999 and has led the MicAS Group (Microbiology of Anaerobic Systems) since 2011. Her research interests include the ecology and physiology of anaerobic microbial communities in natural and engineered ecosystems. Dr Kleinsteuber's work focuses on utilising the metabolic activities of anaerobic microbes for biotechnological applications, such as producing green chemicals from renewable resources. Recent research has highlighted the potential of using mixotrophic microbiomes to produce medium-chain carboxylates in a carbon-neutral way from waste streams. This could advance biorefinery concepts and support a circular, bio-based economy by leveraging anaerobic microbial processes.
