Nils J. Averesch (University of Florida, Gainesville, FL) is an Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Cell Science, specializing in microbial biotechnology, metabolic engineering, and synthetic biology. He holds a Ph.D. in Metabolic Engineering from the University of Queensland, Australia, and a Dipl.-Ing. (Engineer’s degree) in Biochemical Engineering from the Technical University of Dortmund, Germany.

His research focuses on expanding biomanufacturing capabilities by engineering microbes for in-situ resource utilization (ISRU), waste upcycling, and the sustainable production of essential materials and high-performance polymers to support near-to-deep-space exploration missions. He serves as a Co-Investigator for the NASA Space Technology Research Institute CUBES (Center for the Utilization of Biological Engineering in Space) and is an active Analog Astronaut, testing biomanufacturing technologies in space-analog habitats.

Dr. Averesch’s work has been recognized through publications in high-impact journals, including contributions to ACS Synthetic Biology. Prior to joining the University of Florida, he was a Research Engineer at Stanford University in the Criddle Lab.