Media Overview

Insects are of increasing importance in food and feed sectors. Their use in fish, poultry and pig feed is already bringing both environmental and commercial benefits, showing large potentials of the sector and justifying predictions of quick growth in the coming years. Ability of insects to feed on different materials, including side streams and waste, makes them important parts of upscaling and circular processes in food and feed chains.

Modeling of insect rearing is therefore needed to better explain and help in application of optimal rearing conditions, tailor-made to specific insect species, available resources, planned processing methods and envisioned end-use. The goal is to fully use insects in a way that allows fully taking advantage of, on one side, available regional resources, such as side-streams and waste, and on the other, insects’ variability and adaptability, maximizing the production efficiency in each particular case and thus minimizing environmental impact.

The work on thesis "Modeling environmentally optimal insect rearing and processing" will initially include comprehensive data collection of locally available side-streams and waste, as well as literature review of insect rearing. Further, it will include building a model which will suggest possibilities of optimal utilizations of those resources for insect rearing. Finally, the thesis (Bachelor / Master) will include life cycle assessment with available and modelled data, measuring and comparing environmental impacts of insect production and processing, estimating eventually the most environmentally beneficial options and recommending ways to utilize insects in order to achieve optimal resource use.

We offer the opportunity to work independently on a 6- to 12-month project in the field of data science in an innovative and exciting environment.