RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT MANAGER

Elesha has been a part of the Tersa team since January 2022 and has built the synthetic biology program at the company. She received a PhD in Chemistry from UBC while studying enzyme chemistry and natural product biosynthesis in bacteria. In addition to her academic achievements, Elesha has extensive experience teaching, mentoring peers, participating in planning committees and student government and organizing seminars. Now, Elesha is fascinated by the challenging chemical problems that microbes have evolved to overcome and how to harness these functions to solve real-world problems.

BIOPROCESS ENGINEER

Jordan was Tersa’s second technical hire in October 2021. To date, his work with the Microbial Fuel Cell Team has improved the technology by leaps and bounds, fundamentally changing the way that we think about the Tersa Clean process. His technical interests encompass bioprocess engineering, bioelectrochemistry, catalytic surface modifications, and renewable energy production. His start-up experience at Hyasynth Bio focused on cannabinoid production from yeast.

He previously worked for The Department of National Defence developing solutions for the Canadian Military. Furthermore, he is the co-author of a publication in Applied Catalysis A for his work with a catalyst for eco-friendly methacrylic acid production.

BIOPROCESS ENGINEER, MICP

Navya has been a part of the Tersa team since February 2021, serving as the technical lead for Microbial Induced Carbonate Precipitation (MICP) - the water neutralization phase of our treatment process . Navya holds a masters degree in chemical engineering with a specialisation in bioprocess engineering from the University of Toronto. With a keen focus on upscaling optimised enzyme production and downstream processing, Navya has played a key role in enhancing the biocementation process at Tersa. Her expertise extends to her previous collaboration with Bioproducts Research Team at UofT with Fortress Advanced Bioproducts where she contributed to the production of high-value bioproducts from waste. Passionate about sustainable bioprocesses, Navya is dedicated to leveraging biowaste to create valuable and environmentally friendly products.

ELECTROCHEMICAL PROCESS ENGINEER

Protiva is the electrochemical process engineer at Tersa, who joined in April 2022. Her focus is to continuously improve the performance of the microbial fuel cell (MFC), to improve metal recovery rates within the fuel cell. During her PhD, from Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan, she has worked on developing electrochemical biosensors for neurotransmitters. She also has experience in developing pathogen biosensors by dielectrophoretic method, synthesis of solid phase peptide synthesis used for drug discovery by protein-peptide interaction. She worked as a research associate at UBC in the synthesis of plant cannabinoids by metabolic engineering of microorganisms.

SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY RESEARCH ASSOCIATE

Kristen joined the Tersa team in May 2024 as a synthetic biology research associate, and is currently responsible for developing and carrying out the synthetic biology program at the company.

They received a PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Guelph, while studying plant natural product biosynthesis, and completed a postdoc fellowship at the University of Florida in synthetic biology. Kristen’s interests include using synthetic biology tools to develop sustainable solutions to ongoing environmental and climate change challenges, and they have co-authored two publications on synthetic biology solutions to the industrial nitrogen fertilizer problem.

PROCESS ENGINEER

Marie joined the Tersa team in June 2024, after earning her Master’s in Chemical and Biological Engineering at UBC. Currently, She is responsible for the development of TersaClean technoeconomic models, scale up design and process optimization strategies to accelerate commercialization of the company’s technology. 

Marie’s thesis focused on the development of a high-throughput biofilm characterization assay for microbial fuel cell performance screening. She previously worked at Mara Renewables Corporation as a downstream research scientist, optimizing enzymatic driven reactions and product recoveries, and commissioned a pilot scale filtration unit for generating value-added co-products. Prior to Mara, Marie worked at PepsiCo as a resource and reliability manager where she oversaw daily operations of the plant’s recycled water system and other sustainability initiatives.