Forest Bioproducts Research Institute

Faculty & Staff

• Hemant Pendse
  I lead the FBRI research team focused on creating and commercializing new bioproducts. My work relates to design of industrial process systems. We work on rapid technology transfer out of research laboratories through pilot scale validation aimed at private sector acceptance for commercial deployment.
• Michael Bilodeau
  My role is to help acquire and provide pilot scale equipment and resources to conduct scale-up, proof-of-concept and demonstrations of technologies developed by researchers in the FBRI.
• Bob Wagner
  I lead the FBRI research team focused on understanding the wood supply implications, ecological impacts, social acceptability, and economic viability of a forest bioenergy and bioproducts market in the state of Maine.
• Dwane Hutto
  Serving as FBRI Project Manager, Dwane oversees the administrative functions for FBRI, coordinates project work for FBRI’s technical staff, and works with the Executive Director in planning for FBRI.
• Amy Luce
  Maine Native from Pulp Mill to Butanol Biorefinery: FBRI Research Engineer helps Old Town Mill Conversion.
• Yurui Zhen
  My professional responsibilities include calibrating and operating various lab and pilot plant equipments; redesigning methods and implementing and maintaining High-performance liquid chromatography.
• Justin Crouse
  I am part of FBRI’s technical staff. My job is to assist faculty and students in their research efforts by making sure our state-of-the-art equipment is working properly and used appropriately.
• Peter Van Walsum
  I am developing new unit operations that will produce value-added products in parallel with existing wood fiber processing industries, such as the paper and composite wood industries.
• Adriaan Van Heiningen
  I work on generating new knowledge needed for selective and controlled extraction of hemicellulose from forest biomass and understanding the effect of extraction on the properties of the extracted wood and downstream processing into pulp, fuels, chemicals, and other biomaterials.
• Stephen Shaler
  The project objective is to apply hemicellulose extraction procedures to thin wood strands for their subsequent use in the manufacture of composite building materials.
• Clayton Wheeler
  We are using microfabricated devices to study gas reaction kinetics and dynamics on sensor and catalyst materials, while developing combinatorial tools and techniques for rapid catalyst screening.
• Dave Neivandt
  Dave Neivandt researches characterization of cellulosic materials via both traditional and novel spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. Surface modification allows for enhanced performance of cellulosic materials.
• William Desisto
  The focus of my research group is to investigate novel methods for preparing porous inorganic membranes with controlled pore size and functionality.
• Darrell Donahue
  With a background in process engineering and industrial statistics in industry and academics, his research interests are in the development of in-process-line sensors as well as quantitative risk assessment.
• Douglas Bousfield
  We are looking at enzymes that will provide an efficient pre-treatment of wood fibers to help generate microfibrillated cellulose (MFC). MFC is actually the nano-scale fibrils that compose the cell wall of a wood fiber.
• Kathleen Bell
  I research the spatial and temporal dynamics of land-use change by building economic models to describe landscapes.
• Jeff Benjamin
  I am comparing biomass harvest systems and vegetative management treatments for rehabilitation of low value beechdominated hardwood stands.
• Barbara Cole
  We are investigating means of cleaving the lignin-carbohydrate bonds that prevent efficient separation of the wood components and thus limit their utilization.
• Kate Dickerson
  I am working on figuring out what products could be economically produced from wood, where they could be sold in Maine, and how both the wood and the products would get where they need to be.
• Ray Fort
  Hemicelluloses are chains of different kinds of sugars, connected to lignin. We are using computer modeling to determine the best ways to disconnect the individual sugars from each other and from the lignin, for use in fuels and other products.
• Brian Frederick
  I am developing hydrodeoxygenation catalysts that will produce high quality fuels and chemicals from pyrolysis oils made from woody biomass.
• Douglas Gardner
  Gardner’s research, teaching, and service activities focus on polymer and interfacial science aspects of wood-polymer hybrid composite materials.
• Anthony Halog
  In view of establishing myself as an international leader in the exciting field of sustainability science, my primary research interest (that cuts across disciplines) is modeling and simulation of complex natural ecosystems in industrial symbiosis context.
• Jody Jellison
  My personal research is focused on the bioconversion and biomodification of lignocellulose by microorganisms.
• Nancy Kravit
  I am bioprospecting for microorganisms that cleave ether bonds between lignin and hemicellulose.
• Jessica Leahy
  Dr. Leahy's research primarily focuses on environmental and forestry communication issues related to resource-dependent communities, small woodland owners, and the general public.
• Robert Lilieholm
  Dr. Lilieholm’s research interests examine ways in which wildlands can be sustainably managed to promote a wide range of ecological and social goals.
• Paul Millard
  My FBRI research is directed toward chemical transformation of forest bioproducts through microbial fermentation.
• Terry Porter
  I am part of the team conducting a systematic analysis of stakeholder groups’ attitudes, needs, relevant knowledge, and economic/political/personal interests relative to the emergent bioproducts sector.
• Jonathan Rubin
  I am researching the economic evaluation of transition pathways to a forest bioproducts industry by evaluating the feasibility of commercial production of cellulosic ethanol and biodiesel along with other cellulose based bioproducts.
• Aaron Weiskittel
  My research focuses on the development of empirical and process-based models to predict biomass growth and yield across a range of forest types.
• Jeremy Wilson
  The emergence of a forest bioproducts sector will create a market for previously unmerchantable forest material impacting harvesting in the northeast.
• Rongxia Li
  My research focuses on the development of regional forest growth and yield models for several major tree species in Maine.
• Han-Seung Yang
  I conduct scientific research into microfibrillated cellulose-polymeric matrix nano-composite materials including cellulose nanofiber reinforced thermoplastics and other nanocellulose materials developed as part of the FBRI while working with faculty and staff personnel at the AEWC Center and FBRI.