Professor Foston’s research program seeks to develop innovative and novel routes to exploit and utilize lignocellulosic biomass, taking advantage of materials involved in industries such as agriculture, papermaking, and forestry products. His primary research themes are:
Sustainable conversion of biomass into chemicals using liquid-phase, heterogeneous catalysis.
Interfacing the catalytic depolymerization of biomass with microbial utilization.
Understanding how plant cell respond to mechanical stimulus
