Company Overview
Rainforest Algae Corp. is a Canadian biotechnology and clean-technology company developing advanced photobioreactor, gas-transfer, nanobubble, biofiltration and biological treatment systems.
Our technology platform is designed to support controlled microalgae cultivation and improve water and wastewater treatment across municipal, industrial, aquaculture and remote-community applications. Rainforest’s photobioreactors combine controlled lighting, mixing, gas transfer, temperature management, sensor integration and remote monitoring to create scalable biological production and treatment systems.
The company is currently expanding its laboratory research program to evaluate integrated wastewater-treatment processes combining rotating moving-bed biofilm reactors, nanobubble-assisted oxygen transfer and closed photobioreactor algae cultivation. This work is intended to improve nutrient removal, reduce aeration energy and sludge generation, recover useful biomass, and develop compact treatment systems suitable for remote work camps and other decentralized wastewater applications.
Position Summary
Rainforest is seeking a practical and scientifically curious Research Technologist to operate and help optimize laboratory-scale wastewater-treatment and microalgae-cultivation systems.
The successful candidate will conduct experiments involving bacterial biofilm development, biological oxygen demand reduction, nitrification, nutrient removal, microalgae growth and high-pH phosphorus treatment. The position will involve operating linked biological reactors, maintaining cultures, collecting representative samples, performing analytical testing, calibrating sensors, managing experimental data and helping translate laboratory findings into scalable treatment designs.
This role is well suited to someone with experience in environmental biotechnology, municipal wastewater, microbiology, aquaculture, algal cultivation or analytical laboratory work who is interested in applied technology development rather than routine testing alone.
Technology Development Focus
The successful candidate will contribute to the laboratory development of a next-generation biological wastewater-treatment platform combining rotating moving-bed biofilm reactors, nanobubble technology, cavitation, biofiltration and closed photobioreactor algae cultivation.
Research will focus on determining how these technologies can be integrated to reduce biochemical oxygen demand, improve ammonia and nutrient removal, reduce conventional aeration requirements, limit sludge generation, recover algal biomass and produce consistently treated effluent suitable for final filtration, UV disinfection or other approved discharge processes.
The candidate will help establish the relationships among hydraulic residence time, organic and nutrient loading, bacterial biofilm activity, oxygen-transfer efficiency, algal productivity, elevated-pH phosphorus precipitation, biomass harvesting and final effluent quality. The resulting data will support pilot-system design, technology scale-up and commercial deployment for municipal, industrial and remote-work-camp wastewater applications.
Responsibilities
Reactor operation and experimental development
- Set up, operate and maintain laboratory-scale rotating moving-bed biofilm reactors and algae photobioreactors.
- Establish and maintain bacterial biofilms using activated sludge, mature carrier media or wastewater-derived inocula.
- Maintain microalgae cultures and assess culture health, contamination, biomass concentration and productivity.
- Conduct batch, semi-continuous and continuous-flow experiments.
- Evaluate hydraulic residence times, organic loading rates, nutrient loading rates, media loading, rotation speeds, aeration rates, light intensity and gas-transfer conditions.
- Assist in designing statistically meaningful experiments, controls and replicate trials.
- Identify causes of process instability, including ammonia breakthrough, nitrite accumulation, oxygen limitation, alkalinity depletion, biofilm sloughing, culture contamination and nutrient limitation.
- Maintain representative influent, intermediate and final-effluent sampling points.
Wastewater and water-quality testing
Perform or coordinate analyses that may include:
- pH, temperature, conductivity, dissolved oxygen and oxidation-reduction potential;
- alkalinity, hardness, calcium, magnesium and iron;
- turbidity, total suspended solids and volatile suspended solids;
- biochemical oxygen demand and carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand;
- total and soluble chemical oxygen demand;
- total organic carbon and dissolved organic carbon;
- ammonia, ammonium, nitrite, nitrate, Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen and Total Nitrogen;
- orthophosphate and Total Phosphorus;
- chlorophyll, optical density, cell density and dry biomass;
- E. coli, fecal coliform and other microbiological indicators where appropriate;
- UV transmittance and other indicators of suitability for final disinfection.
Algae and biomass assessment
- Prepare and maintain algal inoculum cultures.
- Develop growth curves and determine specific growth rates and biomass productivity.
- Measure optical density, chlorophyll, cell concentration and dry biomass.
- Evaluate nitrogen and phosphorus uptake by algal biomass.
- Investigate phosphorus removal through algal uptake, calcium-phosphate precipitation, adsorption and solids separation.
- Conduct filtered and unfiltered analyses to distinguish dissolved nutrient removal from transfer into suspended biomass or precipitated solids.
- Evaluate algae harvesting, settling, filtration, centrifugation and other biomass-recovery approaches.
Instrumentation and quality control
- Calibrate, maintain and troubleshoot pH, dissolved-oxygen, temperature, conductivity, ORP, turbidity, light and gas sensors.
- Operate photometers, spectrophotometers, titration equipment, digestion blocks, balances, centrifuges, pumps and filtration systems.
- Verify low-flow pump rates and calculate actual hydraulic residence times.
- Establish calibration curves, blanks, duplicates, standards and other laboratory quality-control procedures.
- Maintain accurate laboratory notebooks, calibration records, sample records and equipment-maintenance logs.
- Prepare and preserve samples for analysis by accredited external laboratories.
Data analysis and reporting
- Calculate treatment efficiency, hydraulic loading, organic loading, nutrient loading and volumetric removal rates.
- Develop nitrogen, phosphorus, carbon, oxygen and biomass mass balances.
- Compare reactor performance under different operating conditions.
- Prepare tables, graphs, technical summaries and recommendations.
- Identify the shortest stable hydraulic residence time that consistently achieves target effluent quality.
- Assist with pilot-system sizing, process-flow diagrams, equipment specifications and scale-up calculations.
- Support the preparation of technical reports, funding applications, research documentation and SR&ED records.
Qualifications
Education
A diploma, bachelor’s degree, master’s degree or equivalent practical experience in one or more of the following areas:
- environmental science;
- biology or microbiology;
- biotechnology or biochemistry;
- environmental, biological or chemical engineering;
- water and wastewater technology;
- aquaculture;
- algal biotechnology;
- chemistry;
- a related technical discipline.
Required or strongly preferred experience
- Practical laboratory experience with water, wastewater, aquaculture water or biological process testing.
- Familiarity with water-quality parameters such as BOD, COD, TSS, nitrogen species, phosphorus, alkalinity, DO, pH and turbidity.
- Experience operating laboratory instruments and following analytical procedures.
- Ability to prepare standards, perform dilutions, calibrate instruments and maintain quality-control records.
- Strong recordkeeping, troubleshooting and data-interpretation skills.
- Ability to safely handle wastewater, biological cultures, chemicals and laboratory equipment.
- Ability to work independently while following established experimental and safety procedures.
Highly desirable experience
Experience in one or more of the following would be considered a significant asset:
- municipal or industrial wastewater treatment;
- activated sludge, SBR, MBBR, biofilter or membrane treatment systems;
- nitrification, denitrification and biological nutrient removal;
- microalgae cultivation, including Spirulina, Chlorella or other commercial or research strains;
- photobioreactor operation;
- aquaculture or recirculating aquaculture systems;
- bacterial biofilm development;
- oxygen-transfer systems, fine-bubble aeration or nanobubbles;
- algae harvesting, dewatering or biomass analysis;
- environmental analytical chemistry;
- design of experiments and statistical analysis;
- data logging, laboratory automation or process controls;
- Excel, R, Python, JMP, Minitab, MATLAB or comparable analytical software.
Personal Attributes
The ideal candidate will be:
- scientifically curious and motivated by practical problem-solving;
- comfortable working with both biological systems and mechanical equipment;
- methodical, organized and attentive to experimental detail;
- capable of recognizing anomalous data and investigating its cause;
- willing to work through the variability inherent in biological processes;
- able to communicate findings clearly to scientific, engineering and business personnel;
- interested in contributing to the development and scale-up of new environmental technologies.
What Rainforest Offers
This position provides an opportunity to participate directly in the development of emerging wastewater-treatment and algal-biotechnology systems. The successful candidate will have meaningful responsibility for experimental design, reactor operation, analytical testing, process optimization and technology scale-up.
The work will produce practical data intended to support pilot demonstrations and commercial systems for remote work camps, municipal wastewater, aquaculture, industrial water treatment and other decentralized applications.
Pay: $20.00-$35.00 per hour
Application question(s):
- A résumé describing relevant laboratory, wastewater, aquaculture, microbiology, or algae experience.
- A short cover letter explaining which parts of the role you could perform independently on their first day.
- A list of analytical methods you have personally performed.
- A list of instruments you have personally operated and calibrated
- An example of a biological or water-treatment problem you diagnosed
- Your experience maintaining laboratory notebooks, SOPs, calibration records, and chain-of-custody documentation
- Your availability, compensation expectations, and ability to work onsite both in Calgary and Ponoka.
Work Location: In person
