Risa Swandari Wijihastuti is a PhD candidate at Murdoch University, exploring how salinity fluctuations affect the photosynthetic activity and stability of industrial algae cultures. Her research focuses on halotolerant diatoms, conducting three interconnected experiments to assess their response to gradual salinity increases, sudden decreases, and the use of salinity manipulation to control contamination—key challenges in large-scale open cultivation systems. “I’m particularly excited about using non-invasive chlorophyll fluorescence techniques to monitor photosynthetic efficiency in real time, which could transform how we manage algae cultivation,” she says. By improving culture resilience and productivity, her work aims to support the sustainable production of high-value compounds like fucoxanthin and omega-3 PUFAs, making large-scale algae farming more efficient and adaptable to changing environmental conditions. Risa’s supervisory team includes Prof Navid Moheimani, Prof Parisa Bahri, Dr Damian Laird, and Dr Ashiwin Vadiveloo.
