CQUniversity PhD candidate Vineela Challagulla has come all the way from Hyderabad in India to spend 3 years checking if the often pesky pond pest known as microalgae could be viable as a biofuel.

Working with a University scholarship, the Rockhampton-based researcher is seeking the most viable species of microalgae and the best growth conditions.

Vineela Challagulla checks her research presentation

Initial studies have shown that algae which are subject to stress could produce the best lipids for fuel yield.

The CQ region has extremes of wet and dry which could make it home to some highly-stressed algae, making them worthy of investigation.

Vineela is looking at viability of farmed crops as well as sourcing algae growing as a pest in waterways. She hopes her project will go some way towards combatting climate change.

Vineela gained 7 years of research experience with the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, before coming to CQUniversity.

She is supervised by Associate Professor Nanjappa Ashwath, Professor Kerry Walsh and Associate Professor Larelle Fabbro and gave a PhD confirmation presentation this week as part of the University's ResearchExpo.