Deborah Sills
deborahsills.com
My name is Deborah Sills, and I'm an Associate Professor in the Civil & Environmental Engineering Department at Bucknell University. For my sabbatical, I am spending the 2021-2022 academic year at the Volcani Institute in Israel. I am a teacher scholar at a primarily undergraduate institution (PUI) with interests in environmental processes and sustainability. My research focuses on sustainable production of biofuels and bioproducts. I work on my research with undergraduate students. We use laboratory studies and modeling techniques—such as life cycle assessment—to develop and improve the environmental performance of resource recovery from wastewater and multi-product biorefineries.
Professional
Teaching
CEEG 340 Environmental Engineering
CEEG 442 Sustainability Principles for Engineers
CEEG 443 Sustainable Design of Engineered Technologies
CEEG 445 Environmental Engineering Chemistry
ENGR 222 Fluid Mechanics–Laboratory Studies
ENGR 290 Engineering in a Global-Societal Context: Costa Rica
Selected Publications
Citations via Google Scholar
- The effect of functional unit and co-product handling methods on life cycle assessment of an algal biorefinery.
- Algal Research, vol.46, p.101770, 2020.
- Acid and Alkali Catalyzed Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Dairy Manure Digestate and Food Waste.
- Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, vol.6, pp.2724–2732, 2018.
- Prospects for Energy Recovery During Hydrothermal and Biological Processing of Waste Biomass.
- Bioresource Technology, vol.225, pp.67–74, 2017.
- Biomass conversion to bio-oil using sub-critical water: Study of model compounds for food processing waste.
- Supercritical Fluids, vol.119, pp.26–35, 2017.
- Algal food and fuel coproduction can mitigate greenhouse gas emissions while improving land and water-use efficiency..
- Environmental Research Letters, vol. 11, pp. 114006, 2016.
- Comparative Life Cycle and Technoeconomic Assessment for Energy Recovery from Dilute Wastewater.
- Environmental Engineering Science, vol. 33, pp. 861–872, 2016.
- Target Cultivation and Financing Parameters for Sustainable Production of Fuel and Feed from Microalgae.
- Environmental Science & Technology, vol. 50, pp. 3333–3341, 2016.
- Algal Biofuel Production for Fuels and Feed in a 100-ha Facility: A Comprehensive Techno-economic Analysis and Life Cycle Assessment.
- Algal Research, vol. 10, pp. 266–270, 2015.
- Quantitative uncertainty analyis of life cycle assessment for algal biofuel production.
- Environmental Science & Technology, vol. 47, pp. 687–692, 2013.
- Using FTIR spectroscopy to model alkaline pretreatment and enzymatic saccharification of six lignocellulosic biomasses.
- Biotechnology & Bioengineering, vol. 109, pp. 894–903, 2012.
- Using FTIR to predict saccharification from enzymatic hydrolysis of alkali-pretreated biomasses.
- Biotechnology & Bioengineering, vol. 109, pp. 352–363, 2012.
- Assessment of commercial hemicellulases for saccharification of alkaline pretreated perennial biomass.
- Bioresource Technology, vol. 102, pp. 1389–1398, 2011.
Office: 215 Dana
Phone (570) 577-3367
Calendar
Email: deborah.sills@bucknell.edu