Alexander Meneses, Ph.D.,  is the Director of ?-BiO, a research center founded by the Universidad Autónoma de Bucaramanga (UNAB) in Colombia, focusing on circular bioeconomy issues. In this role, he supports the energy engineering program and the Ph.D. programs in Engineering and Sustainability. He received his Ph.D. in Energy Systems Engineering from the National University of Colombia; and previously he had carried out his master's studies in applied chemistry at the Université de Poitiers, (France, 2000/01). He was also awarded the first doctoral scholarship from the Pacific Alliance to the Water Center for Latin America and the Caribbean at the TEC of Monterrey (Mexico, 2014) and more recently, he was a guest researcher within the framework of the i-COOP + 2018 program of the Higher Council for Scientific Research of Spain (CSIC, Spanish acronym ) for the development of postdoctoral research about the use of enzymes supported on MOFs for removal of emerging contaminants.

Ulrike Schmid-Staiger, Ph.D., is the Group Leader for algae biotechnology development at Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial and Biochemical Engineering IGB in Stuttgart Here, the major interests are development of sound technologies for the customized production of a wide variety of products from microalgae and cyanobacteria with emphasis on promoting the concept of algal biorefinery and novel schemas of circular bioeconomy, including algae biomass as a renewable energy source, and effluents remediation with recycling of nutrients through microalgae cultivation. Likewise, she and her group are addressing the challenges in the field of food security by means applications of algal biomasses derivatives in organic farming and valuable extracts for the food and feed industries. She is actively involved in a variety of project funded by the German Federal Ministries of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) and Education and Research (BMBF) as well, the Baden-Württemberg region, among other.

Tatiana C. Guarín, Ph.D., is a former researcher of the Circular Bio-Economy Research Center (?-BiO) at UNAB in Colombia. In 2021, she received her Ph.D. degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Nevada (Reno, USA). Currently has a position as an assistant professor at the Department of Civil Engineering at UIS (Colombia). She has been part of the editorial board of the Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development of the International Water Association and her research is mainly focused on projects to ensure wastewater and water treatment for potable reuse as a key principle of circularity.