IPB Came Up First in The 2018 L’oreal-UNESCO For Women in Science

L’Oréal Indonesia, in collaboration with the Indonesian National Commission for UNESCO, the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education of Republic of Indonesia, has publicized the Winner of the 2018 L'Oreal- UNESCO for Women in Science competition in Jakarta, on November 8th, 2018. In the category of “Life Sciences”, Dr. Yessie Widya Sari, M.Sc, a lecturer from Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Bogor Agricultural University (IPB) won the honorable 1st place. The research conducted by Dr. Yessie was motivated by concern for people (farmers or sellers) who experienced high losses due to agricultural products short shelf life. There was as well a concern for the planet by looking at the increasing synthetic plastics use as agricultural food products packaging, resulting in of plastic waste and pollution accumulation on Earth. On the other hand, profit significance could be through microalgae biodiesel by-products utilization as bioplastic production raw material. Combining these three problems, Dr. Yessie proposed research related to bioplastics-based food packaging that is expected to overcome synthetic plastics use preserving agricultural products. To fabricate bioplastics-based food packaging, Dr. Yessie chose microalgae—micro-sized algae (seaweed) commonly found in both fresh and sea waters. L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science is an award given to young talented women scientists dedicating their careers to develop scientific innovations contributing to sustainable development and progress of society. Since 2004, this program has been carried out in Indonesia with the aim of recognizing, encouraging and supporting women in scientific field. Each year, L’Oréal Indonesia for Women in Science awards young Indonesian women researchers in form of national fellowships to help fund their research. Finalists are selected based on each candidate’s academic background and achievements, besides the required research proposal submission. Research proposal Dr. Yessie submitted was entitled “Bio-refinery Microalgae: Utilization of Microalgae Proteins as Smart Materials in Food and Agriculture Product Packaging. She is aspired to be an inspiring Indonesian woman to continue to work and produce innovative works. She received bachelor's degree in physics at IPB in 2002, continued master's degree at University of Indonesia (Cum Laude) in 2005, and doctorate in Bio-based Science at Wageningen University, the Netherlands, in 2015. Earlier, she has achieved many international-scaled scholarships: Joint Japan Indonesia from World Bank Institute, “The Best Poster Presenter” at Wageningen-Indonesia Scientific Exposure and “IPB Top 5 Young Female Researchers”. She as well is currently listed as active reviewer in various internationally reputed journals such as Alga Research, Biomass & Bioenergy, and Industrial Crops and Products.