Ananda Amarasekara, Ph.D.
PRAIRIE VIEW, TEXAS (January 26, 2022) The Robert A. Welch Foundation has selected Ananda Amarasekara, Ph.D., to receive $150,000 for the project Depolarization Cellulose Using Hydroxy-Aryl Sulfonic Acids as Cellulase Enzyme Mimicking Catalysts.
Amarasekara serves as professor in the Department of Chemistry and Co-Principal Investigator and group leader for the Bioenergy subgroup in the Center for Energy and Environmental Sustainability (CEES).
With the funding, Amarasekara will enhance the academic and professional development of Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) students and faculty through engagement in faculty-mentored chemical science research. There will be opportunities for research extending beyond Amarasekara’s research interests of renewable energy, biomass-based fuels, feedstock chemicals for the polymer industry, catalysis, and ionic liquids.
Amarasekara seeks to enhance the infrastructure and culture of the chemistry program by promoting scholarly research and increasing the number of undergraduate and graduate students choosing chemistry as a major. Support from the project will serve as seed funding to allow faculty members to acquire preliminary results and improve their competitiveness in external grant applications.
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Karen B. Cotton, MS, MA