The title of this proposal borrows from Epinephelusitajara, known in Portugal (Azores) and Brazil as Mero, a large Atlantic fishspecies that can reach up to 3 m and 400 kg size. The marine ecosystem that supports species such as Mero, is impressive in itsrichness and abundance, offering immense opportunities in terms of resources, scientific knowledge and wonder for human kind. Atthe same time, the sea is also a privileged source of oil and a natural and often risky route for its transportation. In this context, thehuman needs for oil exploitation have imparted renewed momentum to off-shore, deep sea oil exploitation activities in the North(US, UK, Norway, Canada, etc.) and South (Brazil, Angola, Nigeria, etc.) Atlantic areas.

Oil drilling and transportation at sea do not come without a burden to the marine environment. Oil spills occur during accidents andleaks of different scales in the course of oil transportation and storage, but also systematically during deep sea oil drilling andsourcing. The consequences of these events are often disastrous, in view of the fact there are no completely closed systems. Forthese reasons, it is important to have the knowledge and tools in place to respond and monitor the consequences of marine oilspills; promoting solutions that will allow oil removal or promote fast oil degradation by natural autochthonous microbial species,minimizing impact in the marine ecosystem, is also an important endeavour.

MERO is an exploratory project that aims to set-up the basis for further research in the field of OIL SPILL RESPONSE (OSR) ANDMONITORING, bringing together expertize from two very distinct fields, namely robotic autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and bioengineering systems. MERO’s goal is centered in development and integration of the two complementary aspects:
1) To foster the development and manufacture of a biological oil spill response agent (OSRA) formulation with superior efficacy onenhancing oil biodegradation rates and an eco-friendly performance for marine life. Novel smart processes for green Biosurfactantsproduction from wastes will explore specific features of microbial unconventional yeast cell factories, following biorefineriesapproaches using lignocellulosic waste materials as raw materials, to produce OSRA, contributing to a circular bioeconomy.
2) To foster the use of MAR tools, capable of not only probing the surface and underwater environments and thus to provideadvanced monitoring of oil spill response in terms of emulsification efficacy and oil biodegradation and impact in biota, but also todeliver in-situ of biological ORSA emulsifiers, which is particular important for oil spills that originate underwater
The MERO consortium comprises researchers of two R&D institutions financed and evaluated by Fundação para a Ciência eTecnologia (FCT): Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences (IBB) and Laboratório de Robótica e Sistemas de Engenharia(LARSyS), as well as from “InstitutoPortuguês do Mar e Atmosfera” and “Laboratório de Análises do Instituto Superior Técnico”(LAIST), bringing know-how and skills and experience in research and innovation on developing bioengineering, robotics andanalytical methods and tools, as well as on marine science and chemical oceanography.
MERO leverages on the previous knowledge gained and innovations made by its team consortium on:

- the development of a sustainable process combining enzymatic and yeast catalyse for production of mannosylerythritol lipids(MEL) from lignocellulosic residues, a process protected by EP and US patent applications for sustainable production of MEL from renewable sources, as recognized by the Green Awards 2016.
- the design, development, and operation at sea of single and multiple marine robots (carrying advanced sensor suites) that areproperty of LARSYS, with applications to a multitude of scientific and commercial problems that include marine habitat mapping,ocean sampling, inspection of critical infrastructures, and archaeological surveys.

MERO expected results aim to contribute to further broader action within the MIT Portugal Program and Atlantic InternationalResearch Center (AIR Center). Namely, considering the field of marine oil exploitation, the tools developed within MERO shouldsupport further integration with microfluids platforms (lab-in-a-chip) in-situ platforms to assess biological dynamics under deep seain natural scenario or when the ecosystem is exposed to oil, as well as using of biological emulsifiers on enhanced oil recovery andexploitation strategies. Following up MERO and expected results, further validation (e.g. field experiments) will need to extend thecollaboration network to access additional resources and knowledge.