Biomaterials Lab

 

Biomaterials Lab


 

Plastic insulation like Styrofoam is commonplace in seafood packaging and buildings. But plastics never completely disappear, instead they break up into ever smaller particles or microplastic. These tiny particles are harmful to the soils, marine environment and wildlife, and may affect human health.

Researchers with the Biomaterials Lab seek to better understand the effects of these stray plastic bits. The team is working to solve the global plastic pollution problem by developing insulation that is recyclable, reusable, and biodegradable. Researchers combine design-thinking, microbiology, and physics to dream-up scalable biological materials that store carbon and provide a sustainable vital barrier from the elements.

Their key ingredients to de-carbonizing industries include beetle-kill spruce trees and renewable cellulose that is literally grown in a lab. The Biomaterials Lab is an active innovation platform for new bio-based materials and circular bio-economy solutions in the Circumpolar North. The lab uses norm-critical design thinking as a framework to tackle some of the most pressing environmental and public health problems facing the Arctic today.

 


FEATURED PROJECTS

insulation for buildings

coolers and shippers

fishing gear

 

NEWS & Stories

  • Vanessa Hiratsuka posing by water

    Faculty Spotlight: New NRC Co-Director, Vanessa Hiratsuka

     |  Chynna Lockett  |  , , ,

    Vanessa Hiratsuka from CHD and Britteny Howell from DPHS are the new Co-Directors for Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê×ÊÁÏ’s National Resource Center on Alaska Native Elders. Vanessa Hiratsuka shares her hopes for the center’s future.

  • Brittney Howell pointing to hot air balloon being inflated

    Faculty Spotlight: New NRC Co-Director, Britteny Howell

     |  Chynna Lockett  |  , , ,

    Vanessa Hiratsuka from CHD and Britteny Howell from DPHS are the new Co-Directors for Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê×ÊÁÏ’s National Resource Center on Alaska Native Elders. Britteny Howell shares her journey into geriatrics.

  • Maggie Winston

    Alumni of Distinction: Maggie Winston

     |  Matt Jardin  | 

    One morning in 2005, psychology alumna Maggie Winston — then a 21-year-old hairdresser and mother of twin boys living in Kenai — woke up feeling cramps between her shoulder blades. Within an hour, she couldn’t walk.

  • STEM day family dressed as health care professionals

    Children explore health care careers at Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê×ÊÁÏ STEM Day

     |  Vicki Nechodomu  |  , , ,

    After a two-year hiatus, Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê×ÊÁÏ STEM Day returned to campus on October 1, drawing over 1,500 community members to the ConocoPhillips Integrated Science Building to celebrate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, commonly known as STEM. Attendees, primarily children, enjoyed activities, challenges, demonstrations, tours, and planetarium shows that explored a wide range of STEM topics from biology to robotics.

  • Covid vaccine

    Line One: Vaccine access for the disabled community

     |  Alaska Public Media  |  , ,

    More than two years into the pandemic, vaccines are widely available and most health measures have been lifted. But there are still Alaskans who have difficulty accessing vaccines or who have continued health risk in spite of them. Sondra LeClair, Health Projects Coordinator, Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê×ÊÁÏ Center for Human Development, discusses vaccine access for individuals with disabilities in Alaska.

 


division of population health sciences




 

Upcoming Events

 

Contact Us:
Phone: 907-786-6574
Email: nbbeckage@alaska.edu 


Location:
Biomaterials Lab
Environmental Biomedical Laboratory
3211 Providence Dr.
Anchorage, AK 99508

 

Mailing Address:
Biomaterials Lab
Environmental Biomedical Laboratory
3211 Providence Dr.
Anchorage, AK 99508