Fiona Bunn appointed to science advisory body

Dr Fiona Bunn, a postdoctoral researcher and technical project manager has been appointed as an Associate Member of the Scottish Science Advisory Council (SSAC).

The SSAC is Scotland’s highest-level science advisory body, providing independent advice and recommendations on science strategy, policy and priorities to the Scottish Government.

It plays a vital role in ensuring that policy decisions are informed by the latest scientific evidence and expertise. 

Fiona Bunn is part of Professor Louise Horsfall's group and focuses on using microbes for the sustainable recovery of critical metals.

Metals are essential for a number of renewable technologies, such as electric vehicles, which are undergoing rapid production expansion to meet Net Zero targets.

The group's goal is to allow easier recovery of critical metals which are currently mined, refined, used and then often discarded with the product or technology at end of their life.

These metals could be recycled infinitely but the rapidly expanding range and complexity of products they are used in currently make the recovery process challenging.

Traditional recovery methods, which extract metals by dissolving them into solutions with strong acids, rely on costly and environmentally harmful chemicals and consume a lot of water.

Using an engineering biology approach, the natural ability of microbes to interact with metals could be harnessed to extract and recycle critical metals needed for renewable technologies in a more environmentally-friendly way.

Fiona completed an internship with the SSAC as part of her PhD in the Horsfall lab. She is one of four University colleagues to have taken up roles on the Scottish Science Advisory Council.

It is a great honour to join the SSAC as an early-career researcher. I look forward to supporting the continued collaboration between science and policy in Scotland, assisting the Scottish Government in the development of evidence-informed policies, strategy and priorities, and (on a personal perspective) learning from the wide-ranging expertise of colleagues in the SSAC.

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