People
Charles Anderson
Co-Director, Center for Biorenewables; Associate Professor of Biology
In vivo imaging of plant cell wall dynamics. Molecular genetic analysis of genes involved in cell growth. Cell wall biosynthesis in dividing cells. Cell wall engineering for sustainable bioenergy production.
Robert Berghage
Associate Professor of Plant Science
Environmental plant physiology. Controlled and modified environments for plant growth. Eco-roofs, rooftop greening, and other uses of plants in distributed stormwater management systems.
John Carlson
Professor of Molecular Genetics; Director, Schatz Center for Tree Molecular Genetics
Genome mapping, including genetic linkage mapping, molecular cytogenetics; studies of genetic diversity in forests.
Jeffrey Catchmark
Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering
Cellulose synthesis and organization, cellulosic composites and coatings, microbial cellulose production, and chemically powered microfluidic and biological devices and sensors.
Stephen Chmely
Assistant Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering
Surinder Chopra
Professor of Maize Genetics
Regulation of flavonoid biosynthesis during plant development and plant-pathogen interaction. Epigenetic regulation and allele specific patterns.
Daniel Ciolkosz
Co-Director, Center for Biorenewables; Associate Research Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering
Erin Connolly
Professor and Head of Plant Science
Molecular mechanisms of micronutrient transport. Iron uptake and compartmentalization. Metal ion homeostasis
Daniel Cosgrove
Eberly Chair and Professor of Biology
Mechanism of plant growth. Function and evolution of expansins. Biochemistry and rheology of plant cell walls. Growth responses to light, hormones, and water stress and other stimuli.
Christine Costello
Assistant Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering
Ali Demirci
Professor-in-Charge of the CSL Behring Fermentation Facility; Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering
Francesco Di Gioia
Assistant Professor of Vegetable Crop Science
Plant nutrition, plant physiological and biochemical response to environmental and abiotic stress conditions, sustainable vegetable production, agrobiodiversity, agronomic biofortification, food and nutrition security.
J. Gregory Ferry
Stanley Person Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Enzymology and molecular genetics of anaerobic microbes from the Archaea domain
Majid Foolad
Professor of Plant Genetics
Genetic characterization of resistance/tolerance to biotic/abiotic stresses, and genes/QTLs contributing to tomato fruit quality. Investigation of genes/QTLs for directed crop improvement and germplasm enhancement. Tomato cultivar development & release.
John Golbeck
Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics
Light reactions in photosynthesis. Structure and function of photosystem I and the heliobacterial reaction center. Regulation and bioassembly of iron-sulfur clusters in cyanobacteria and plants. Plant and bacterial metalloproteins. Generation using Photosystem I, hydrogenase, and molecular wire technology.
Robert Graves
Professor Emeritus of Agricultural and Biological Engineering
Ying Gu
Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Mechanism of cellulose biosynthesis in higher plants. Genetic modification of plant cell wall to scale-up biofuel production.
Mark Guiltinan
J. Franklin Styer Professor of Horticultural Botany; Professor of Plant Molecular Biology; Director, Endowed Program in the Molecular Biology of Cocoa
Plant functional genomics, metabolomics and biotechnology. Identification of key genes for disease resistance and important traits in the tree crop Theoboma cacao, the Chocolate tree.
Clare Hinrichs
Professor of Rural Sociology
How transitions to sustainability are understood, negotiated, organized, contested, and assessed.
David Hughes
Huck Chair in Global Food Security; Professor of Entomology and of Biology
Parasite manipulation of host behavior
Sibel Irmak
Research Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering
Jason Kaye
Chair, Intercollege Graduate Degree Program in Ecology; Professor of Soil Biogeochemistry
Ecosystem ecology; global change biology; biogeochemistry of nitrogen and carbon cycling in managed and unmanaged ecosystems.
Armen Kemanian
Professor of Production Systems and Modeling
Agricultural Systems, Agricultural and Natural Systems Modeling, Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Cycling, Bioenergy Systems, Coupled Hydrologic and Nutrient Modeling, and Plant Competition
Seong Kim
Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering; Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
Joshua Lambert
Professor of Food Science
Dietary polyphenols in prevention of obesity and fatty liver disease; efficacy and mechanisms of action of food-derived phytochemicals in prevention of lung cancer; biotransformation, bioavailability and potential hepatotoxicity of dietary phytochemicals
Impact of food and medicinal plants and phytochemicals on human health. Role of plant genetics, environmental factors, agronomic practices, and post-harvest processing in moderating the relationship between medicinal and food plants and human health
Joel Landry
Assistant Professor of Environmental and Energy Economics
The welfare evaluation of current and proposed policies given the presence of pre-existing policy distortions and multiple market failures, and the evaluation of the incentives, institutions, and decision-making processes that explain why imperfect policies often emerge
Jesse Lasky
Associate Professor of Biology
Ecological and evolutionary genomics, genetic and ecophysiological basis of adaptation to environmental stress, evolutionary ecology of biological complexity.
Bruce Logan
Evan Pugh University Professor and Kappe Professor of Environmental Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Costas Maranas
Donald B. Broughton Professor of Chemical Engineering
Computational studies of metabolism and gene regulation.
Megan Marshall
Associate Teaching Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering
Lauren McPhillips
Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Judd Michael
Nationwide Insurance Professor of Safety & Health; Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering
B. Tracy Nixon
Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Structural and functional basis of cellulose synthesis. Using Physcomitrella patens and other organisms as model systems, we are learning how plants make cellulose for building new cell wall. The studies use methods of molecular biology and cryoEM to characterize the enzyme as a monomer, and when it assembles into its larger 'Cellulose Synthase Complex '(CSC for short). The aim is to understand cellulose synthesis to explain fundamentals of cell wall biology in plants, and to enable manipulation of its synthesis for applications in fields of bioenergy and materials.
Charles Ray
Associate Professor of Ecosystem Science and Management
Analysis of natural resources systems; wood identification and taxonomy; forest industry economics; wood products operations management; process control, simulation, and optimization; statistical quality control; relationships of wood, moisture, product properties, and environmental emissions; artificial intelligence; lean manufacturing; quality management systems.
Andrew Read
Director, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences; Evan Pugh Professor of Biology and Entomology; Eberly Professor of Biotechnology
The ecology and evolutionary genetics of infectious disease.
John Regan
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Biological treatment processes, molecular microbial ecology, bioenergy production.
Tom Richard
Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering
Application of fundamental engineering science to microbial ecosystems, developing innovative strategies for a more sustainable agriculture and the emerging bio-based economy.
Howard Salis
Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering; Associate Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering
Engineering microorganisms for applications in synthetic biology and metabolic engineering.
Phillip Savage
Department Head and Walter L. Robb Family Chair of Chemical Engineering
Chemical reaction kinetics, algae biofuel, catalysis, sustainability, supercritical fluids.
Amir Sheikhi
Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering
Micro- and nanoengineered soft materials for medicine and the environment; microfluidic-enabled biomaterials for tissue engineering and regeneration; living materials; next-generation bioadhesives, tissue sealants, and hemostatic agents; hydrogels for minimally invasive medical technologies; self-healing and adaptable soft materials; smart coatings; hairy nanocelluloses as an emerging family of advanced materials.
James Shortle
Distinguished Professor of Agricultural and Environmental Economics
Paul Smith
Professor Emeritus of Bioproducts Marketing and Agricultural and Biological Engineering
Mary Ann Smith
Biology Lecturer (Schuylkill)
The isolation of microorganisms with the potential for antibiotic production within soil and sourdough systems
Chunshan Song
Distinguished Professor of Fuel Science, Professor of Chemical Engineering
Ming Tien
Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Characterization and biochemical analysis of cellulose synthesis in a variety of organisms. Mechanism and regulation of fungal degradation of lignin. Dissimilatory Iron reduction.
Hojae Yi
Assistant Research Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering
Andrew Zydney
Director of the Center for Industrial Biotechnology; Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering