Distinguished Lecture Series : Cellulosic Ethanol and Microbial Lipids as Biofuels

Dr. Raj Boopathy is an Alcee Fortier Distinguished Service Professor of biological sciences at the Nicholls State University, USA. He received the Jerry Ledet Foundation Endowed Professorship in Environmental Biology in 2002 and John Brady Endowed Professorship in 2012. In 2008, Dr. Raj Boopathy received the Nicholls State University’s Presidential Award for Teaching Excellence. He has more than 30 years of research experience in the area of bioremediation and bio-processing. His research involves bioremediation of hazardous chemicals including oil spills and explosives, biological treatment of wastewater, antibiotic resistance genes in the environment, and bio-ethanol production. He has published 191 research papers in peer- reviewed journals and 20 book chapters. He edited two books. His research work has been cited more than 8,500 times with h-index of 50. Dr. Raj Boopathy reviewed research grants for National Science Foundation, Department of Defense, US Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy, and numerous private agencies and foreign governments including South Africa, Switzerland, Indonesia, Hong Kong, UK, and Israel. He is the editor of the journal, Environmental Quality Management, Current Pollution Reports, and Applied Sciences (Section, Environmental and Sustainable Science and Technology). He also serves as a senior editor of the Journal, Renewable Bioresources and is on the Editorial Boards of various International journals including International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation, Bioresource Technology, and the International Journal of Soil and Sediment Contamination. Dr. Raj Boopathy received Fulbright scholarship and spent six months teaching and conducting research at the Institute of Technology (ITB) in Bandung, Indonesia in 2007. He also received European Union-US biotechnology Fellowship and Leverhulme commonwealth fellowship. He has been elected as a Fellow of various societies including International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), Society for Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology (SIMB) and the International Forum on Bioprocessing (IFBioP). Dr Raj Boopathy was selected as a Fulbright Senior Scholar Specialist to visit various countries for next five years by the US State Department and he recently visited Malaysia and Indonesia as a Fulbright Specialist. Dr. Boopathy received Dr. Waksman Award from SIMB for his contribution in Microbiology Education in 2017. Dr. Boopathy is the recipient of the World Class Professor (WCP) award from the Government of Indonesia. Dr. Boopathy currently serves as a visiting professor at the Institute of Technology Bandung (ITB), Indonesia.