Orlando Rojas
- Website Department profile
Orlando Rojas joined UBC as the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Forest Bioproducts and the Scientific Director of the UBC BioProducts Institute in 2020. Since then, Dr. Rojas has played a key role in synergizing a distinguished group of professors and researchers conducting multi- and cross-disciplinary research to create fundamental knowledge and applications, from seed genetics to cutting-edge bio-refining technologies, from thermochemical and bio-conversion pathways to novel bio-based products. He continues to be a principal investigator of the FinnCERES Flagship to advance the Finnish materials bioeconomy and co-leads the Boreal Alliance, a joint global initiative to catalyze innovation beyond borders, internationalizing our science and creating research exchange, funding and business opportunities with leading institutions along the Boreal forest belt.
A recipient of the Anselme Payen Award—one of the highest international recognitions in the area of cellulose and renewable materials—and an elected member of the American Chemical Society and the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters, Dr. Rojas is recognized as a worldwide leader in the area of nanocelluloses. His most recent research grants include the European Research Commission Advanced Grant and Horizon 2020. He has authored over 430 peer-reviewed papers related to his core research, mainly dealing with nanostructures from renewable materials and their utilization in multiphase systems.
