Anurag Mandalika is assistant professor of research at the Energy Institute. His research interests include biomass and bioenergy, biofuels, waste reduction and valorization, emissions measurement, and carbon dioxide removal. During his research career, Anurag has studied the production of the platform chemicals furfural and furfuryl alcohol in high yield from a variety of biomass sources using novel, green chemistry principles, evaluated the application of membranes for separations in biomass processing and conversion, and studied the removal of arsenic from water using adsorbents prepared from waste biomass sources. Prior to starting his role at the Energy Institute, Anurag was an assistant professor with the LSU AgCenter, working on challenges experienced by the sugarcane industry in Louisiana, and exploring digital agriculture and automation, and the ethics associated with their implementation in agriculture. As a postdoctoral researcher at UW-Madison, he investigated emissions generated from manure processing and storage to reduce deaths from suspected hydrogen sulfide poisoning in the dairy industry. As a research associate with the U.S. Forest Service, Anurag studied the potential for bioenergy of forest residues and woody biomass using a pilot-scale gasifier and the production of films and foams from lignocellulosic biomass sources. Anurag holds a B.S. in biosystems engineering from Clemson University with a minor in environmental engineering and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in biological systems engineering with a minor in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is a member of the American Society for Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) and the United States Association for Energy Economics (USAEE).
