Sailusha Ratnam Kuntamukkula

Project Title: Control of bacterial hazards in animal and other wastes intended for land spreading

Overview: Sailusha Kuntamukkula is a Ph.D. student and her project is being held at Teagasc Food Research Centre Ashtown, in collaboration with the University of Galway. Her project is funded as part of a Department of Agriculture, Food, and Marine-funded project entitled SafeWaste.

Sailusha graduated with a master's in Biotechnology from University College Dublin. She later worked as a research assistant at University College Dublin on the National SARS-CoV-2 Wastewater Surveillance Project, a collaboration between the HSE, HPSC, HIU, Irish Water, and the National Viral Reference Laboratory (NVRL). She found it fascinating that with small microorganisms we can challenge huge problems like climate change and that’s when she developed an interest in microbiology and its use to provide a sustainable environment.

One of the greatest challenges agriculture faces is to increase yields without losing soil quality. Since early civilization, various animal wastes and wastewater treatment sludge have been used as organic fertilizers. It is known that using animal wastes enriches soil nutrients and organic matter but also impacts the structure of the bacterial community. But how long these effects last is unknown. Sailusha’s research focuses on identifying the impact of prolonged storage and composting on targeted wastes in reducing or eliminating bacterial pathogens.

Programme Area: Food Safety

Supervisors: Dr Kaye Burgess, and Dr Florence Abram

Location: Teagasc Ashtown, Co. Dublin

Funding Source: Teagasc