Susan T. Bagley

Biography

Dr. Bagley has over 30 years experience as an environmental microbiologist working in academia and government (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) on microbial-based treatment of air, soil and waterborne organic wastes, mutagenicity and toxicity of environmental pollutants, and microbial production of bio-based fuels and polymers. She has collaborated on multidisciplinary studies with Environmental, Chemical, and Mechanical Engineers, Chemists, and Forest Scientists for much of her career. Her current studies are focused on effecting systems-wide improvements in production of fuels and other materials using lignocellulosic biomass. Her current work focuses on the optimization of fermentation conditions (multi-scale) for conversion of biomass sugars from dilute acid and fast pyrolysis pretreatments to fuels, novel fuel additives, and other value-added products such as bio-polymers. These studies have provided extensive opportunities for both graduate (PhD/MS) and undergraduate student research projects. Dr. Bagley has administered funding in excess of $2M from government, industry, and foundations and has co-authored over 80 peer-reviewed articles and reports as well as proceedings’ publications. Most of these studies have involved multidisciplinary collaboration with environmental, chemical, and mechanical engineers, chemists, and forest scientists. Dr. Bagley is also very active professionally, currently serving as President of the Society for Industrial Microbiology.