A research project to reuse wastes as natural herbicides and in biomedicine
The Biodiversity and Environment Institute and the University's School of Pharmacy and Nutrition will carry out this study for two years.
FotoEnriqueCobos
/From left to right: Emilio Goicoechea (2nd Degree in Human Nutrition) and volunteer; Valery Elsner (2nd Degree in CAAC) and volunteer; Mónica Oyarzun (Environmental Biology Dept. technician); Dr. Nieves Goicoechea (Dept. Environmental Biology and principal investigator); Dr. Carmen Sanmartín (Dept. Pharmaceutical Technology and Chemistry. Researcher); Dr. Daniel Plano (Dept. Pharmaceutical Technology and Chemistry. Researcher); Céline Guynot Boismenu, Dr. Céline Guynot Boismen (Dept. Pharmaceutical Technology and Chemistry. Carmen Sanmartín (Dept. of Pharmaceutical Technology and Chemistry, researcher); Dr Daniel Plano (Dept. of Pharmaceutical Technology and Chemistry, researcher); Céline Guynot de Boismenu, 2nd year undergraduate in CAAC and volunteer; Tomás Madrigal, 2nd year undergraduate in Pharmacy and volunteer; and the graduate Silvia Estarriaga, PhD student.
02 | 11 | 2023
Researchers from the Institute of Biodiversity and Environment and the School of Pharmacy and Nutrition of the University of Navarra will investigate the possible properties of some household and pruning wastes as antimicrobial, antitumor and natural herbicide agents. This research will be carried out within the framework of the "Program for the promotion of collaboration in R&D&I actions between Autonomous Communities" of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan financed by the European Union-NextGenerationEU.
"The project is not aimed at reducing the production of domestic plant waste and waste from industrial activities or agricultural work, but at expanding its reuse in fields that go beyond composting, such as its use as a natural herbicide or in biomedical fields," says Nieves Goicoechea, a researcher at the Institute of Biodiversity and Environment and professor at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Navarra.
The project, requested in collaboration with the Applied Research Group in Agrochemistry and Environment (GIAAMA) of the Miguel Hernández University of Elche, and entitled "Valorization of domestic vegetable and pruning waste in sanitary and agricultural areas", will receive an economic endowment of 67,000 € and will be developed over two years.
"Our goal is to give the project a living-lab character in which the participation of the university community is encouraged. For this reason, we plan to install different collection points on the campus of the University of Navarra," says Dr. Goicoechea.
The main work team is formed by Nieves Goicoechea, researcher at the Institute of Biodiversity and Environment, Dr. Carmen Sanmartín and Dr. Daniel Plano from the Faculty of Pharmacy and Nutrition, and Mónica Oyarzun, technician at the Faculty of Sciences. In addition, other professionals and volunteers are expected to participate in the project: the pharmacist Silvia Estarriaga, who will develop her doctoral thesis; the Nigerian doctor Damilola Grace Olanipon (Guadalupe Ortiz de Landázuri Scholarship); two students of the double degree Biology-Environmental Sciences will carry out their Final Degree Projects; and four students will participate as volunteers in the selective collection of waste at various points of the Pamplona campus.
The Institute of Biodiversity and Environment of the University of Navarra is a research center that aims to respond, based on scientific evidence, to the main environmental challenges facing the planet. The Institute is made up of more than fifty researchers working in four main areas: ecosystem management, anthropogenic impacts, global change and biodiversity, and science communication.