Dan Macken

Daniel obtained a BSc Plant Science in the UK (Nottingham) and MSc Biotechnology in the Netherlands (Wageningen). He has a background in bioprocess engineering, strain development and genetic modification of plants and microalgae. For his MSc thesis he conceptualized a novel line of research, introducing a novel riboswitch into microalgae for temporal genetic expression control. Parallel to his studies he founded two start-ups: During his BSc, NutriGreens (continuing), a social enterprise combatting micronutrient malnutrition in Ugandan schoolchildren, which won the Enactus UK 2020 exposition and finished as semi-finalist at the Enactus World cup. During the MSc, AlgO Circular (discontinued), a startup creating microalgal circular food ingredients from food and beverage byproducts. Notably, AlgO won the ReThink Protein and also Dutch Cleantech challenges. In December 2023, Dan joined the team at SFP as a doctoral candidate.