Louise Horsfall is Professor of Sustainable Biotechnology at The University of Edinburgh. Her research uses Engineering Biology to make manufacturing more resource efficient and help move us towards a more sustainable, circular economy.

Prof Horsfall has published the most advanced bio-based process for lithium-ion battery recycling to date and authored, alongside leading battery experts, the roadmap for a sustainable circular economy in lithium-ion and future battery technologies. Her research has also combined the use of biosynthesised nanoparticles with cutting edge green chemistry techniques to demonstrate routes to improved catalysis.

Prof Horsfall holds a MChem from the University of Oxford, a DEA and a PhD in Biochemistry from the Université de Liège. She was a founding member of the European Federation of Biotechnology (EFB) Bioengineering and Bioprocessing Division and now serves as an elected academic representative of the EFB’s Executive Board. Prof Horsfall also represents the Microbiology Society on the Scottish Parliamentary Cross-Party Group on Science and Technology. She is a member of the European Synthetic Biology Society and SynBioUK Advisory Boards, EPSRC’s Strategic Advisory Team for manufacturing and circular economy, BBSRC Strategy Advisory Panel for advanced manufacturing and clean growth, the Carbon Technology Research Foundation Advisory Council and the Scottish Science Advisory Council – providing independent advice and recommendations on science strategy, policy and priorities to the Scottish Government.