Biofuels Researcher Receives Fulbright Senior Research Award

Summary

Dr. Kenneth E. Hammel, research chemist at the US Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, has been named recipient of a Fulbright Senior Research Award by the German-American Fulbright Program. Dr. Hammel, a SC-supported researcher, studies mechanisms of lignin degradation by fungi, a key step in the conversion of lignocellulose into a chemical form that can be more easily converted into biofuels. He is using new solution-state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy as well as isotope enrichment strategies to characterize the fundamental biochemical mechanisms used by a variety of fungi to degrade lignin. Dr. Hammel will spend 10 months abroad studying newly discovered fungal enzymes that have an important role in carbon cycling in forest soils. These enzymes also have potential applications in the development of biotechnology solutions for selective oxidations of chemicals.