About me:

Role

Dr Puja Thiel is the Environmental Bioeconomy lead at Exeter Innovation, In her role, Puja develops collaborative projects with external partners that utilize and help translate university expertise and research output into the real world. She oversees research in the areas of bioenergy, biomaterials, sustainable aquaculture, industrial microbiology and eco-conservation.

She is the support point for Biosciences department and works closely with academics across the university on the theme of Environmental Bioeconomy.

Profile

Puja is a Norwegian national and a global citizen. She has a scientific background - a PhD in Developmental Neurobiology from the University of Bergen and 14 years of research experience. With the urge to work on sustainable development, she switched careers and worked on diverse projects such as leading a Food innovation challenge in Norway, facilitating entrepreneurship workshops in Europe, and giving talks on ‘The power of co-creation’, 'Systems thinking' and ‘The future of food’ internationally. She also designed a corporate training in sustainability as part of a global non-profit organization based in Japan, and continues in her role as a board member for the non-profit.

Prior to her role at Exeter Innovation, she did the Exeter MBA, which focuses on “Leadership for a better world”. In her current role, Puja uses her academic background, her understanding of environmental issues and her business skills to connect researchers at Exeter with meaningful industry partners towards research projects that can create wider impact.