Natural fibers or natural fibres are fibers that are produced by geological processes,or from the bodies of plants or animals. They can be used as a component of composite materials,where the orientation of fibers impacts the properties. Natural fibers can also be matted into sheets to make paper or felt.
Lignocellulose refers to plant dry matter (biomass),so called lignocellulosic biomass. It is the most abundantly available raw material on the Earth for the production of biofuels. It is composed of two kinds of carbohydrate polymers,cellulose and hemicellulose,and an aromatic-rich polymer called lignin. Any biomass rich in cellulose,hemicelluloses,and lignin are commonly referred to as lignocellulosic biomass. Each component has a distinct chemical behavior. Being a composite of three very different components makes the processing of lignocellulose challenging. The evolved resistance to degradation or even separation is referred to as recalcitrance. Overcoming this recalcitrance to produce useful,high value products requires a combination of heat,chemicals,enzymes,and microorganisms. These carbohydrate-containing polymers contain different sugar monomers and they are covalently bound to lignin.
Utkal University (UU) is a public university in Bhubaneswar,Khordha,Odisha,and is the oldest university in the state,and the 17th-oldest university in India. The university was established in 1943 and was operating from Ravenshaw College in the early days.
A biocomposite is a composite material formed by a matrix (resin) and a reinforcement of natural fibers. Environmental concern and cost of synthetic fibres have led the foundation of using natural fibre as reinforcement in polymeric composites. The matrix phase is formed by polymers derived from renewable and nonrenewable resources. The matrix is important to protect the fibers from environmental degradation and mechanical damage,to hold the fibers together and to transfer the loads on it. In addition,biofibers are the principal components of biocomposites,which are derived from biological origins,for example fibers from crops,recycled wood,waste paper,crop processing byproducts or regenerated cellulose fiber (viscose/rayon). The interest in biocomposites is rapidly growing in terms of industrial applications and fundamental research,due to its great benefits. Biocomposites can be used alone,or as a complement to standard materials,such as carbon fiber. Advocates of biocomposites state that use of these materials improve health and safety in their production,are lighter in weight,have a visual appeal similar to that of wood,and are environmentally superior.
Bioproducts or bio-based products are materials,chemicals and energy derived from renewable biological material.
The College of Engineering and Physical Sciences (CEPS),is one of seven faculties –referred to as “colleges”–at the University of Guelph in Ontario,Canada. CEPS operates on the University of Guelph main campus,one of four across Ontario,and has one of the largest faculty,staff,and student populations of the seven colleges at U of G.
Bioproducts engineering or bioprocess engineering refers to engineering of bio-products from renewable bioresources. This pertains to the design and development of processes and technologies for the sustainable manufacture of bioproducts from renewable biological resources.
Lorraine Code is Professor Emerita of Philosophy at York University in Toronto,Ontario,Canada and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Her principal area of research is feminist epistemology and the politics of knowledge.
Prabhat Nalini Das was an Indian public intellectual,academic and university president. She served as a professor of English and head of the English Department at Lady Shri Ram College,Delhi University;Indian Institute of Technology,Kanpur;Utkal University and Ranchi University. She was the first Director/Dean of the Humanities Division at the Indian Institute of Technology,Kanpur;Founder-Professor and Head of the Department of English at Utkal University for almost 19 years,and Chairman of Utkal University's Post Graduate Council;and the Pro-Vice-Chancellor of North Eastern Hill University,a Central University established by an act of the Parliament of India,with independent charge of its Kohima,Nagaland campus.
Kim Anderson was born and raised in Ottawa,Ontario. Her paternal grandmother,Catherine Anne Sanderson (b.1902) was the granddaughter of the Métis voyageur,Thomas Sanderson. Her paternal grandfather,James E. Anderson (b.1899),came from a long line of marriages among Indigenous peoples spanning over five generations. Kim Anderson's work in educational tourism,community-based education,and cross cultural education afforded her many travels in her youth. But,when she became a mother in 1995,she began to research and write about motherhood and culture-based understandings of Indigenous womanhood.
Barbara Anne Croy is a Canadian reproductive immunologist and professor emerita in Biomedical and Molecular Sciences at Queen's University. From 2004 until 2016,Croy was a Canada Research Chair in Reproduction,Development and Sexual Function. In 2017,she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Her research focus is on mice pregnancy and natural killer cells.
Claudia Wagner-Riddle is a Canadian agrometeorologist. She is a professor in agrometeorology in the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of Guelph and editor-in-chief of the journal Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. In 2020,Wagner-Riddle was appointed director of the North America regional chapter of the International Nitrogen Initiative and elected a fellow of the American Meteorological Society.
Kari Edith Dunfield is a Canadian microbiologist. She is a Canada Research Chair in Environmental Microbiology of Agro-ecosystems and Professor in Applied Soil Ecology in the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of Guelph. As of 2016,she is the co-editor of the Canadian Journal of Microbiology.
Tina M. Widowski is a Canadian-American animal welfare scientist and a professor of applied animal behaviour and welfare at the University of Guelph.
Emma Allen-Vercoe is a British-Canadian Molecular biologist who is a Professor and Canada Research Chair at the University of Guelph. Her research considers the gut microbiome and microbial therapeutics to treat Escherichia coli.
Shakeel Ahmed is an assistant professor of chemistry in the Department of Higher Education,Government of Jammu and Kashmir. He is listed among the top 2% most cited scientists of the world by Stanford University. He is the elected fellow of International Society for Development and Sustainability and is recipient of Young Scientist Award and Best Professor of the Year Award 2020.
Amar K. Mohanty is a material scientist and biobased material engineer,academic and author. He is a Professor and Distinguished Research Chair in Sustainable Biomaterials at the Ontario Agriculture College and is the Director of the Bioproducts Discovery and Development Centre at the University of Guelph.
Emily D. Cranston is a Canadian chemist who is a professor at the University of British Columbia and President’s Excellence Chair in Forest Bioproducts. She investigates nanocellulose and hybrid bio-based materials. Cranston is an NSERC E.W.R. Steacie fellow and was awarded the Kavli Emerging Leader in Chemistry lectureship in 2018 and the Tappi NanoDivision Technical Award in 2021.
Jacqueline Murray is a Canadian medieval historian and professor emeritus of history at the University of Guelph. Her research focuses on sexuality and gender in medieval Europe,with a specific focus on masculinity and male sexuality. She has also studied marriage and the family in the Middles Ages.
Dr. Christine F. Baes is chair of the Department of Animal Biosciences at the University of Guelph in Ontario,Canada. She began her five-year term in the role in May 2023. She is also a professor and Canada Research Chair in Livestock Genomics at Ontario Agricultural College at the University of Guelph.
