Faculty

Joy Doran Peterson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Microbiology
Ph.D. (1994) University of Florida

Address: Department of Microbiology
550 Biological Sciences
Athens, GA 30602-2605
Phone: (706) 542-4115
E-mail: jpeterso@uga.edu
COS CV: http://myprofile.cos.com/jpeterso

Research Interests:
The Doran-Peterson laboratory at the University of Georgia has four major efforts:
1) mining microbial diversity for new organisms, enzymes, and antimicrobials; 2) developing methods for disrupting biomass to release sugars; 3) improving existing fermentation processes and fermenting organisms; and 4) integrating all of the above for an economically viable process.  Major biomass types investigated include forestry residues and high impact pine resources, food and agricultural wastes (sugar beet pulp, sugarcane bagasse, corn stover, baby carrot waste, and other food processing wastes), sorghum, grasses (switchgrass, bermudagrass, napiergrass), and algae. She has an active research laboratory and also consults regularly for industry and the investment community.

Dr. Doran-Peterson is Chair of the Fermentation and Biotechnology Division of the American Society for Microbiology and was recently selected to Chair the University-wide 80+ member Biofuels, Biopower, and Biomaterials Initiative (B3I) at UGA.  She has presented next generation biofuels talks on numerous occasions, here in the states and overseas and has shared information with members of the US Government on Capitol Hill.  
Publications:
Ximenes, E.A., Brandon, S.K., and Peterson, Joy Doran. 2008. Evaluation of a Hypocrea jecorina enzyme preparation for hydrolysis of Tifton 85 bermudagrass. Appl. Biochem. Biotechnol.

Doran-Peterson, J.B., Henriksen, E.D., and Cook, D.M. 2008. Microbial conversion of sugars from plant biomass to ethanol and lactic acid. The Plant Journal. In Press.