Trevor Charles wins Research Innovation and Impact Award

Wednesday, February 9, 2022
Trevor Charles

Congratulations to Professor Trevor Charles for being recognized with a Research Innovation and Impact Award from the BE-STEMM 2022 conference hosted by the Canadian Black Scientists Network!

This award was eligible for all presenters at the conference, who were judged on their communication skills through their presentation, and also their research topics. The Research Innovation and Impact Award was given to two established Principal Investigators whose research is high impact, novel, and/or has a focus on emerging problems and societal challenges.

One of Professor Charles’ current research focuses is on addressing the challenges of food waste and plastics pollution by applying bacterial genome engineering and microbiome analysis within a Circular Bioeconomy concept, to develop innovative methods for conversion of food wastes to biodegradable plastics. His conference presentation, titled “Functional Metagenomics-enabled Bacterial Genome Engineering for Production of Bioplastics from Food Wastes ”, focused on the upcycling of waste lactose from the dairy industry to biodegradable plastics suitable for food packaging materials.

“The BE-STEMM conference was a landmark event for the Canadian Black Scientists Network. It was uplifting to witness four days of celebration of Black Excellence in STEMM, especially with so many young Black scientists in attendance,” says Professor Charles. “I am thrilled to have the research program of my team recognized, and it is an honour to share the award with friend and collaborator Professor Larry Goodridge.”

Congratulations Trevor!