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Faculty Profile
Arthur Stipanovic

Emeritus

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astipano@esf.edu

Dr. Arthur (Art) Stipanovic is currently Professor and Past Chairman of the Chemistry Department at SUNY-ESF where he received his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees.  From 1998-2012, he was Director of the Analytical and Technical Service group at SUNY-ESF and, from 2010-2012, he served as Interim Co-Director of the CNY Biotechnology Accelerator, a business incubator located in Syracuse, NY. His research interests include biodegradable polymers from renewable resources, high-throughput analytical techniques for determining the composition of woody biomass and new pretreatment processes for the wood-based biorefinery.  

Education

B.S. and Ph.D., 1974, 1979, SUNY-ESF, Polymer Chemistry

Research Thrusts

Dr. Stipanovic’s research group focuses on the use of renewable “woody” biomass for the production of fuels, chemicals and biodegradable materials. Specific program areas are highlighted below:

(1) Adaptation of “high-throughput” analytical techniques for the wood-based biorefinery including Near IR Spectroscopy, High-Resolution Thermogravimetric Analysis, analytical and process NMR.  Emphasis on techniques that enable feedstock composition optimization for fast growing willow (Salix) species.   

(2) Development of “commercially” implementable pretreatment technologies to reduce the inherent recalcitrance of woody biomass in a biorefinery such as High-Energy Electron Beam (EB) irradiation, biodelignification by white-rot fungi, and other environmentally “benign” pretreatments.

(3) Enhanced utilization of the “hemicellulose” fraction of woody biomass for biodegradable materials and composites. In collaboration with Professor Chris Nomura of SUNY-ESF, creation of a genetically engineered organism that will combine two functions: (1) utilization of xylose sugar from wood hemicellulose (vs. glucose sugar from corn) and, (2) the conversion of xylose directly into a biodegradable polyester useful for disposable consumer plastic applications.

(4) Many photosynthetic species of green algae can produce significant quantities of a bio-oil, up to 70% the mass of their bodies, when they are grown in the dark (heterotrophically) while being fed the sugar glucose which can be obtained from corn or renewable biomass. This oil is potentially useful as a feedstock for transportation fuels.  Certain algal species such as Chlorella protohecoides , can also utilize the sugar xylose which can be obtained in significant yield from woody biomass, especially hardwoods like maple and willow.  In this study, the potential of this alternate route to bio-oil will be optimized.

(5) Development of a proprietary process to enhance the rate of glucose fermentation by yeasts to ethanol using EB treated hardwood extracts which contain cyclitols, sugar-like molecules which can stimulate the metabolism of certain yeasts,   

Publications

~~“Effect of acetate as a co-feedstock on the production of poly(lactate-co-3-hydroxyalkanoate) by pflA-deficient Escherichia coli RSC10”, Lucia Salamanca-Cardona, Ryan A. Scheel, Kouhei Mizuno, N. Scott Bergey, Arthur J. Stipanovic, Ken’ichiro Matsumoto, Seiichi Taguchi, and Christopher T. Nomura, Journal of Bioscience and Bioengineering, Vol. 123, No. 5, 547-554  (2017).

“Consolidated bioprocessing of poly(lactate-co-3-hydroxybutyrate) from xylan as a sole feedstock by genetically-engineered Escherichia coli”, Lucia Salamanca-Cordona, Christopher Nomura, Arthur J. Stipanovic, Journal of Bioscience and Bioengineering, Accepted March 2016.

“Integration of biomass pretreatment with fast pyrolysis: An evaluation of electron beam (EB) irradiation and hot-water extraction (HWE)”, Ofei D. Mante, Thomas E. Amidon, Arthur Stipanovic, Suresh P. Babu, Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis, 110, 44-54 (2014)

“Deletion of the pflA gene in Escherichia coli LS5218 and its effects on the production of polyhydroxyalkanoates using beechwood xylan as a feedstock”, Lucia Salamanca-Cardona, Ryan A Scheel, Benjamin R Lundgren, Arthur J Stipanovic, Ken’ichiro Matsumoto, Seiichi Taguchi, and Christopher T Nomura, Bioengineered 5:5, 1–4; September/October 2014

"Consolidated bioprocessing of poly(lactate-co-3-hydroxybutyrate) from xylan as a sole carbon feedstock by slow-growing genetically-engineered Escherichia coli", Salamanca-Cardona, Lucia; Bergey, N.; Stipanovic, Arthur; Matsumoto, Ken'ichiro; Taguchi, Seiichi; Nomura, Christopher, ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering Manuscript ID: sc-2015-000859, 3-Feb-2015

“Ploidy Level Affects Important Biomass Traits of Novel Shrub Willow (Salix) Hybrids”, Michelle J. Serapiglia, Fred E. Gouker, J. Foster Hart, Faride Unda, Shawn D. Mansfield, Arthur J. Stipanovic, Lawrence B. Smart, BioEnergy Research, 8 (1), 259-269 (2015). 

“Ionizing radiation and a wood-based biorefinery”, M.S. Driscoll. A.J. Stipanovic, K. Cheng, V.A. Barber, M. Manning, J.L. Smith and S. Sundar,  Radiation Physics and Chemistry, 94, 217-220 (2014).

“Electron beam pretreatment of switchgrass to enhance enzymatic hydrolysis to produce sugars for biofuels”, S. Sundar, N.S. Bergey, L. Salamanca- Cardona, A.J. Stipanovic, and M. Driscoll,  Carbohydrate Polymers, 100, 195-201 (2014). 

“Enhanced production of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) from beechwood xylan by recombinant Escherichia coli” Lucia Salamanca-Cardona, Christopher S. Ashe, Arthur J. Stipanovic, Christopher T. Nomura* , Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 98, 831-842 (2014). 

“Enzymatic Saccharification of Shrub Willow Genotypes with Differing Biomass Composition for Biofuel Production”, M.J. Serapiglia, M.C. Humiston, H. Xu, D.A. Hogsett, R.Mira de Orduna, A.J. Stipanovic, and L.B. Smart, Frontiers in Plant Biotechnology, 25 March 2013,  10.3389/fpls.2013.00057 (Published in Open access format online).   

“Reducing Woody Biomass Recalcitrance by Electron Beams, Biodelignification and Hot-water Extraction”, Kun Cheng, Vincent A. Barber, Mark S. Driscoll, William T. Winter and Arthur J. Stipanovic*, Journal of Bioprocess Engineering and the Biorefinery, 2(2), 143-152 (2013).

 

“Consolidated bioprocessing of poly(lactate-co-3-hydroxybutyrate) from xylan as a sole feedstock by genetically-engineered Escherichia coli”, Lucia Salamanca-Cordona, Christopher Nomura, Arthur J. Stipanovic, Journal of Bioscience and Bioengineering, Accepted March 2016.

“Integration of biomass pretreatment with fast pyrolysis: An evaluation of electron beam (EB) irradiation and hot-water extraction (HWE)”, Ofei D. Mante, Thomas E. Amidon, Arthur Stipanovic, Suresh P. Babu, Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis, 110, 44-54 (2014).

“Deletion of the pflA gene in Escherichia coli LS5218 and its effects on the production of polyhydroxyalkanoates using beechwood xylan as a feedstock”, Lucia Salamanca-Cardona, Ryan A Scheel, Benjamin R Lundgren, Arthur J Stipanovic, Ken’ichiro Matsumoto, Seiichi Taguchi, and Christopher T Nomura, Bioengineered 5:5, 1–4; September/October 2014

“Ionizing radiation and a wood-based biorefinery”, M.S. Driscoll. A.J. Stipanovic, K. Cheng, V.A. Barber, M. Manning, J.L. Smith and S. Sundar,  Radiation Physics and Chemistry, 94, 217-220 (2014).

“Electron beam pretreatment of switchgrass to enhance enzymatic hydrolysis to produce sugars for biofuels”, S. Sundar, N.S. Bergey, L. Salamanca- Cardona, A.J. Stipanovic, and M. Driscoll,  Carbohydrate Polymers, 100, 195-201 (2014). 

“Enhanced production of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) from beechwood xylan by recombinant Escherichia coli”Lucia Salamanca-Cardona, Christopher S. Ashe, Arthur J. Stipanovic, Christopher T. Nomura* , Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 98, 831-842 (2014). 

“Enzymatic Saccharification of Shrub Willow Genotypes with Differing Biomass Composition for Biofuel Production”, M.J. Serapiglia, M.C. Humiston, H. Xu, D.A. Hogsett, R.Mira de Orduna, A.J. Stipanovic, and L.B. Smart, Frontiers in Plant Biotechnology, 25 March 2013,  10.3389/fpls.2013.00057 (Published in Open access format online).    

“Reducing Woody Biomass Recalcitrance by Electron Beams, Biodelignification and Hot-water Extraction”, Kun Cheng, Vincent A. Barber, Mark S. Driscoll, William T. Winter and Arthur J. Stipanovic*, Journal of Bioprocess Engineering and the Biorefinery, 2(2), 143-152 (2013).