12th July: From practical problems to unexpected opportunities – serendipity in research

Simon Cragg
Institute of Marine Sciences, Portsmouth

Marine wood borers lead blameless lives in mangrove forests, recycling the dead wood and creating homes for other organisms.

When they colonise man-made structures they come to be seen as a problem and much ingenuity has been used to devise means of stopping them.

Now we realise they have things to teach us about how to break down agricultural waste to make liquid fuel. This talks leads you through a research trajectory from problem to opportunity.

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