Dr Gesa Reiss featured in Feed Strategy article
Senior Research Fellow Dr Gesa Reiss explains how research into insect rearing may help to reduce the carbon footprint of food production.
The university’s research farm is set to receive a 40-foot insect bioreactor — a prototype built by insect technology company Entocycle that will allow researchers to explore insect rearing in a commercial setting, but at a smaller scale than seen in industrial insect farms.
The bioreactor is primarily intended to help Dr Reiss' team collect data to determine whether insects raised on animal manure might be safe to use in animal feed.
Researchers plan to investigate best practices for raising and breeding insects, how insects might fit into a carbon-free farming operation, and insect welfare.
My personal interest is really to make sure we don’t produce another farming system that exploits the farmed species
"So I am working with my colleagues to see if the insect species used for commercial production are sentient," Dr Reiss said. " And if they are, how to make sure that insect welfare is maintained.”
