College of Agriculture & Natural Resources│College of Engineering Department of Biosystems & Agricultural Engineering

Biography

Sibel Uludag-Demirer is an environmental engineer with a PhD. degree from Vanderbilt University. She has more than 25 years of experience in research and teaching in the treatment and valorization of waste to valuables by means of chemical and biological technologies. She was a Marie Curie Scholar in Villanova University (PA, USA) and Endeavour Scholar in RMIT University (Melbourne, Australia) and collaborated with her colleagues on the recovery of nitrogen and phosphorus from waste to produce fertilizer and reclaim the water. She has 70 publications and was a co-editor of a book about the utilization of algae in wastewater technologies. She is currently the manager of Michigan State University’s Anaerobic Digestion Research and Education Center (ADREC), where she focuses on advancing sustainable solutions for organic waste management, renewable energy, and environmental protection.

Research Interests 

• Anaerobic digestion and process design and improvement

• Biomethane production 

• Nutrient recovery and reuse as a fertilizer

• Environmental fate of bioplastics, particularly biodegradable plastics

• Standardization of biological tests

Extension Programs

• Outreach activities that connect the scientific innovation with application, such as, workshops, facility tours, short courses

• Developing collaborative projects with academic and nonacademic community and industry on the conversion of waste to energy and to value-added products
• Organizing meetings to engage with stakeholders to develop circular economy strategies that support sustainable agriculture, waste valorization, and climate resilience.

Websites

MSU ADREC

Publications

• Smerigan, A., Uludag-Demirer, S., Cutshaw, A., Marks, A. and Liao, W., 2023. High-efficiency carbon dioxide capture using an algal amino acid salt solution. Journal of CO2 Utilization, 69, p.102394.

• Thomas, B.D., Uludag-Demirer, S., Frost, H., Liu, Y., Dusenbury, J.S. and Liao, W., 2022. Decentralized high-strength wastewater treatment using a compact aerobic baffled bioreactor. Journal of Environmental Management, 305, p.114281.

• Uludag-Demirer, S. and Demirer, G.N., 2021. Post-anaerobic treatability and residual biogas potential of digestate. Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery, pp.1-8.

• Claes, A., Melchi, L., Uludag-Demirer, S. and Demirer, G.N., 2021. Supplementation of carbon-based conductive materials and trace metals to improve biogas production from apple pomace. Sustainability, 13(17), p.9488.

• Xu, M., Uludag-Demirer, S., Fang, D., Zhou, L., Liu, Y. and Liao, W., 2021. Effects of Pyrogenic Carbonaceous Materials on Anaerobic Digestion of a Nitrogen-Rich Organic Waste—Swine Manure. Energy & Fuels, 35(3), pp:2282-2292.

• Uludag-Demirer, S. and Demirer, G.N., 2021. Post-anaerobic treatability and residual biogas potential of digestate. Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery, pp.1-8.

• Cutshaw, A., Daiek, C., Zheng, Y., Frost, H., Marks, A., Clements, D., Uludag-Demirer, S., Verhanovitz, N., Pavlik, D., Clary, W. and Liu, Y., 2020. A long-term pilot-scale algal cultivation on power plant flue gas–Cultivation stability and biomass accumulation. Algal Research, 52, p.102115.

• Uludag-Demirer, S., Olson, N., Ives, R., Nshimyimana, J.P., Rusinek, C.A., Rose, J.B. and Liao, W., 2020. Techno-Economic Analysis of Electrocoagulation on Water Reclamation and Bacterial/Viral Indicator Reductions of a High-Strength Organic Wastewater—Anaerobic Digestion Effluent. Sustainability, 12(7), p.2697.

• Ülgüdür, N., Ergüder, T.H., Uluda?-Demirer, S. and Demirer, G.N., 2019. High-rate anaerobic treatment of digestate using fixed film reactors. Environmental Pollution, 252, pp.1622-1632.