Dr. Renneckar is an associate professor in the Department of Wood Science. He also is a Canada Research Chair in Advanced Renewable Materials, working on the science behind the transformation of wood and plant biopolymers into value-added products. He studied polymer science applied to lignocellulosic materials at Virginia Tech (BS and PhD), and UC Berkeley (MS). After obtaining his PhD, he served on the faculty at Virginia Tech for 9 years, and currently retains an adjunct appointment there. His research is based in the knowledge of interactions amongst biobased polymers (forces that allow separation or integration) and how these forces impact biobased material processing and performance. With this core competency, the goal of his research is to separate out polymers and nanoparticles from renewable materials such as waste biomass and then modify and elegantly integrate them into larger structures with new value, minimizing the energy required for material formation. Dr. Renneckar has an active research program with more than $6 M in research funding, nearly 50 peer review publications, 2 US patent applications, over 70 presentations, and has graduated 8 PhD and 3 MS students under his direct supervision.