World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
Willy Verstraete

Willy Verstraete

Award Badge
Best Scientists
2025
Award Badge
Biology and Biochemistry
Belgium
2026

D-Index & Metrics

Best Scientists

D-Index
177
Citations
124834
World Ranking
674
National Ranking
6

Biology and Biochemistry

D-Index
176
Citations
115807
World Ranking
71
National Ranking
1

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Biology and Biochemistry in Belgium Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Best Scientists Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Biology and Biochemistry in Belgium Leader Award
  • 2023 - Research.com Biology and Biochemistry in Belgium Leader Award
  • 2022 - Research.com Biology and Biochemistry in Belgium Leader Award

Overview

Willy Verstraete is affiliated with Ghent University in Belgium and specializes in environmental science with a significant focus on pollution, industrial and manufacturing engineering, molecular biology, ecology, and renewable energy, sustainability, and the environment. Their research spans various aspects of environmental systems, with a particular emphasis on wastewater treatment, nutrient recovery, and microbial processes.

The main topics covered in Verstraete's work include:

  • Wastewater Treatment and Nitrogen Removal
  • Algal Biology and Biofuel Production
  • Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact
  • Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology
  • Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Production
  • Microbial Fuel Cells and Bioremediation
  • Food Waste Reduction and Sustainability

Verstraete has contributed to numerous publications, with frequent appearances in prominent venues such as:

  • Microbial Biotechnology
  • Bioresource Technology
  • SSRN Electronic Journal
  • Green Chemistry
  • MATEC Web of Conferences

Some recent papers include:

  • Purple phototrophic bacteria for resource recovery: Challenges and opportunities, 2020, Biotechnology Advances
  • Pathways to advanced resource recovery from sewage, 2024, Nature Sustainability
  • Insights of metallic nanoparticles and ions in accelerating the bacterial uptake of antibiotic resistance genes, 2021, Journal of Hazardous Materials
  • Upcycling of biowaste carbon and nutrients in line with consumer confidence: the "full gas" route to single cell protein, 2020, Green Chemistry
  • A sustainable waste-to-protein system to maximise waste resource utilisation for developing food- and feed-grade protein solutions, 2022, Green Chemistry

Frequent collaborators of Verstraete include:

  • Siegfried E. Vlaeminck
  • Ilje Pikaar
  • Silvio Matassa
  • Nico Boon
  • Kenneth N. Timmis

Best Publications

  • Microbial Fuel Cells: Methodology and Technology†

    Bruce E Logan;Bert Hamelers;René Rozendal;Uwe Schröder

  • Probiotic Bacteria as Biological Control Agents in Aquaculture

    Laurent Verschuere;Geert Rombaut;Patrick Sorgeloos;Willy Verstraete

  • Microbial fuel cells: novel biotechnology for energy generation

    Korneel Rabaey;William Verstraete

  • Microbial carbonate precipitation in construction materials: A review

    Willem De Muynck;Nele De Belie;Willy Verstraete

  • Biofuel Cells Select for Microbial Consortia That Self-Mediate Electron Transfer

    Korneel Rabaey;Nico Boon;Steven D. Siciliano;Marc Verhaege

  • Treatment and Reuse of Wastewater from the Textile Wet-Processing Industry : Review of Emerging Technologies

    Philippe C. Vandevivere;Roberto Bianchi;Willy Verstraete

  • Microbial phenazine production enhances electron transfer in biofuel cells

    Korneel Rabaey;Nico Boon;Monica Höfte;Willy Verstraete

  • The basics of bio-flocs technology: The added value for aquaculture

    P. De Schryver;R. Crab;T. Defoirdt;N. Boon

  • Nitrogen removal techniques in aquaculture for a sustainable production

    Roselien Crab;Yoram Avnimelech;Tom Defoirdt;Peter Bossier

  • Use of bacteria to repair cracks in concrete

    Kim Van Tittelboom;Nele De Belie;Willem De De Muynck;Willy Verstraete

  • Continuous Electricity Generation at High Voltages and Currents Using Stacked Microbial Fuel Cells

    Peter Aelterman;Korneel Rabaey;Nico Boon

  • A microbial fuel cell capable of converting glucose to electricity at high rate and efficiency.

    Korneel Rabaey;Geert Lissens;Steven D. Siciliano;Willy Verstraete

  • Initial community evenness favours functionality under selective stress

    Lieven Wittebolle;Massimo Marzorati;Lieven Clement;Annalisa Balloi

  • Self-healing concrete by use of microencapsulated bacterial spores

    Jianyun Wang;H. Soens;Willy Verstraete;N. De Belie

  • Biofloc technology in aquaculture: Beneficial effects and future challenges

    Roselien Crab;Tom Defoirdt;Peter Bossier;Willy Verstraete

  • Biological denitrification in microbial fuel cells.

    Peter Clauwaert;Korneel Rabaey;Peter Aelterman;Liesje De Schamphelaire

  • Key roles of pH and calcium metabolism in microbial carbonate precipitation

    Frederik Hammes;Willy Verstraete

  • Comparison of Five In Vitro Digestion Models To Study the Bioaccessibility of Soil Contaminants

    Agnes G. Oomen;Alfons Hack;Mans Minekus;Evelijn Zeijdner

  • Tubular microbial fuel cells for efficient electricity generation.

    Korneel Rabaey;Peter Clauwaert;Peter Aelterman;Willy Verstraete

  • Microbial fuel cells

    Korneel Rabaey;Willy Verstraete

Frequent Co-Authors

Nico Boon
Nico Boon Ghent University
Korneel Rabaey
Korneel Rabaey Ghent University
Peter A. Vanrolleghem
Peter A. Vanrolleghem Université Laval
Eva M. Top
Eva M. Top University of Idaho
Tom Van de Wiele
Tom Van de Wiele Ghent University
Peter Bossier
Peter Bossier Ghent University
Steven D. Siciliano
Steven D. Siciliano University of Saskatchewan
Siegfried E. Vlaeminck
Siegfried E. Vlaeminck University of Antwerp
Marta Carballa
Marta Carballa University of Santiago de Compostela
Nele De Belie
Nele De Belie Ghent University

If you think any of the details on this page are incorrect, let us know.

Report an issue

We appreciate your kind effort to assist us to improve this page, it would be helpful providing us with as much detail as possible in the text box below:

Best Scientists Citing Willy Verstraete

Trending Scientists

Recently Published Articles