Circular Bioeconomy Systems
The University of Tennessee-Oak Ridge Innovation Institute launched its circular bioeconomy systems Convergent Research Initiative (CRI) in 2024. Over the next five years, UT and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) will be collaborating to accelerate world-leading innovation and establish UT and ORNL as national leaders in this important joint area of research.
Leveraging the strengths of ORNL and the UT Institute of Agriculture’s long-established work across the state of Tennessee, UT-ORII’s new circular bioeconomy systems CRI team is partnering with two crucial Tennessee industries: auto manufacturing and agriculture/forestry to create a circular bioeconomy systems testbed.
The group aims to use emerging science to produce materials from sustainable carbon sources, pioneering the shift toward low-energy and low-carbon-intensity circular agriculture, and manufacturing.
CRI Leadership Team
Erin Webb, lead for ORNL’s Bioresource Science and Engineering group and laboratory relationship manager for the DOE Bioenergy Technologies Office
Niki Labbe, professor and assistant director of the UT Institute of Agriculture’s Center for Renewable Carbon
David Weston, staff scientist for ORNL
Alexei Sokolov, UT-ORNL’s Governor’s Chair for Polymer Science
CRI Research staff
Philip Barnett, Research Assistant Professor
Ahmed Chennak, Research Assistant Professor
Mary Danielson, Research Assistant Professor
Diego Hincapié Ossa, ORNL Economics & Employment Modeler
Somnath Koley, Research Assistant Professor
Umesh Marathe, Research Assistant Professor
Toby Nelson, Research Associate Professor
Raphael Ployet, Research Assistant Professor
Ivan Popov, Research Assistant Professor
Ryan Spencer, ORNL R&D Staff Member
Michael Toomey, ORNL R&D Associate
Rebecca Wilkes, ORNL Associate R&D Staff Scientist
CRI Advancement Award Winners
Amanda May – Combined Impacts of Microplastics and Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) on Metabolomic Functions of Bioenergy Crop Rhizosphere Bacteria
Nour Abdoulmoumine – CO2 Valorization to Bio-Derived Chemicals and Polymer Precursors
Ivan Popov – Development of Next-Generation Lignin-Derived BioVitrimers with Dynamic Covalent Networks for Circular Recycling Systems