Jian Shi, assistant professor in the Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, has received a National Science Foundation EPSCoR Research Fellow (RII Track 4) award. His project, “Elucidating Enzyme-Ionic Liquid Interactions to Enable Effective Lignin Valorization,” will provide Shi and his students the opportunity to visit and conduct collaborative research with the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in the next two years.

Shi’s overarching research goal is to understand and develop novel bioprocesses and models for the production of biofuels, bioproducts and renewable materials by exploring the interface between chemistry, engineering, biology and agriculture. He joined the University of Kentucky in 2015.