Ilgaz is a Hydro Nation Scholar, carrying out his PhD on ‘Understanding microbial and geochemical factors contributing to the wastewater treatment performance in constructed wetlands; a case study within scotch whisky distilleries’ at the Environmental Research Institute. Through this research, Ilgaz’s project will support the Scottish whisky industry to reach their 2040 sustainability target for net zero emissions. 

Ilgaz’s research interests include: 

• Bacterial and fungal monitoring of constructed wetlands by bioinformatic analysis of multi-marker metabarcoding environmental DNA 

• Water quality monitoring 

• Wetland biogeochemistry 

• Biochar-based functionalised materials 

Prior to starting his PhD, Ilgaz completed an MSc in Industrial Biotechnology and a BSc in Molecular Biology and Genetics. Since then, he has worked in the pharmaceutical and medical device sectors.