Sarra Gaspard Editor

Sarra Gaspard, Ph.D., is Professor in chemistry and Vice-Dean of the Exact and Natural Sciences Faculty at the University of the West-Indies and French Guyana. She graduated from the University Orsay Paris XI, France, with a PhD in Bioinorganic chemistry (1993). She has 20 years of experience in bioprocess engineering, especially on the use of biological systems such as bacteria and enzymes for degradation of chemicals and the interactions between activated carbons and pollutants. Her research works deals on adsorption in aqueous phases with activated carbon or biopolymers, enzyme characterization and metabolism and environmental microbiology, preparation of activated carbons for supercapacitors. Mohamed Chaker Ncibi, Eng., Ph.D., is a Research Assistant in the Chemical and Environmental program at the University of the West-Indies and French Guyana (French West-Indies). His field of expertise is the industrial valorisation of biomass and derived materials for water treatment and bioenergy production, with a special interest in transferring the lab-scale finding to the industrial level. His main accomplishments are the elaboration of a wastewater treatment process based on the adsorption capacities of local Mediterranean bioresources to treat dyes and phenol-loaded effluents. The production of bioethanol and biodiesel from local biomasses and agricultural wastes are also among his research themes. Currently, his is focusing on the pesticides-related contamination, always considering the biomass as the sustainable solution to remediate water and soil pollution threats.