As a Schmidt Science Fellow, Hadas will engineer fungi to create self-sustaining biological carbon sinks to combat climate change.
Some fungi naturally capture carbon by building tough materials, such as chitin and melanin, to form their physical structure. Hadas will harness and reprogram this ability to create fungi that convert carbon dioxide into stable biopolymers, building carbon-rich structures, even within closed systems. With the help of microfluidics, their growth will be guided into forms that maximize carbon storage.
Hadas’s aim is to build new, living tools for carbon capture that are biodegradable, scalable, and energy efficient.
Hadas will pivot from Neuroscience to Climate Science