Presentation: Zoe Harris, Using aeroponics to fast track the sustainable propagation of SRC willow.

In this presentation given at the Biomass Connect Showcase on 7th November 2024, Zoe Harris, demonstrates the use of aeroponics as a cutting-edge propagation method for willow.

Zoe Harris’s core research interest are in how we use land to provide food and energy provisions whilst minimising environmental impacts? Zoe’s NERC Fellowship investigate the relationship between vertical farming and BECCS deployment. She is investigating if vertical farming is sustainable, and how this technology could support BECCS deployment through land sparing or potentially through supply of bioenergy crops. Zoe’s research interests include:

• Bioenergy
• Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage
• Land use change
• Eddy covariance
• Soil GHG emissions
• Vertical farming

Zoe is also interested in the role of gender in the energy sector and received a UKERC Networking fund grant to found the IVUGER network – Increasing Visibility of Underrepresented Groups in Energy Research. This project provided training and seed funding for women in energy research, and conducted research into the impact of job wording on the diversity of applicants. Zoe recently won a DecarboN8 seed fund to develop methodology, which assesses the role of diversity in problem solving, using transport in Bradford as a case study.