Dr. Resch's career at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) began in 2008 as a postdoctoral researcher working on cellulase and hemicellulase enzyme characterization, funded by the Department of Energy through the BioEnergy Science Center and the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO). The optimization of biomass pretreatment and enzyme improvements lowered the cost of low temperature biological conversion of biofuels and bioproducts. These results were demonstrated at the bench-scale (milliliter) up to demonstration-scale (1000s liters).At NREL, he was also involved in investigating biological lignin depolymerization with the ultimate goal of upgrading lignin molecules into value-added fuels or chemicals. From October 2016 – September 2017, Dr. Resch was awarded a Materials & Operations Detail at the Bioenergy Technologies Office in Washington, D.C., supporting the Advanced Algal Systems and Conversion Platforms. Dr. Resch provided technical expertise to ensure the integration of strong research and technology with industrial relevance to support BETO's R&D focus of enabling a striving bioeconomy. Dr. Resch was also involved in the planning and implementation of technical priorities as a member of a multi-federal agency Biomass R&D working group, which developed an “Action Plan” of R&D focus to achieve a thriving U.S. bioeconomy.These experiences will be leveraged by contributing to the leadership of the FCIC to address biomass feed-handling issues while maintaining low and high temperature conversion performance. This consortium will leverage the expertise and relationships between national lab core capabilities, industry and BETO leadership to collectively achieve our goal of a successful bioeconomy. Addressing issues plaguing the burgeoning lignocellulosic biofuel industry will prove to develop new agricultural revenue streams, create domestic jobs, and maintain energy security while reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions.
Listed skills include Protein Chemistry, Protein Purification, Purification, Biofuels, and 45 others.