Maureen McCann joined NREL from Purdue University, where she was a Professor of Biological Sciences and Director of Purdue’s NEPTUNE Center for Power and Energy, funded by the Office of Naval Research. Maureen has also served as the Director of the Center for Direct Catalytic Conversion of Biomass to Biofuels (C3Bio), an Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC) funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Science. Within C3Bio, her lab explored synthetic biology and genetic engineering approaches to optimize cell wall and biomass structure for chemical conversion processes. Prior to joining the faculty at Purdue, she was a project leader at the John Innes Centre Norwich in the United Kingdom, a government-funded research institute for plant and microbial sciences, funded by The Royal Society with a University Research Fellowship. She received her undergraduate degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge and a Ph.D. in Botany from the University of East Anglia. Maureen currently serves on DOE’s Biological and Environmental Remediation Advisory Committee and is President of the American Society of Plant Biologists.

Research Interests

Maureen’s research interests include understanding how the molecular machinery of the plant cell wall contributes to cell growth and specialization, and thus to the final stature and form of plants. She aims to elucidate the relationship between genetically defined changes in plant cell wall-related proteins (biosynthetic, hydrolytic, and structural) and cell wall molecular architecture and structural properties and to examine the downstream consequences for cell growth and differentiation. Other interests include:

Using a toolkit of plant genetics and molecular biology to optimize dedicated bioenergy crops by gaining genetic control of the amount, composition, and structure of cell walls for their end-use as feedstocks in production of energy-rich biofuels, chemicals, and materials.

Developing technologies that maximize the energy and carbon efficiencies of biofuel production by the rational and synergistic design of both physical and chemical conversion processes and the biomass itself.

Education

Ph.D., Botany, University of East Anglia, United Kingdom

M.A., Natural Sciences, Churchill College, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

B.A., Natural Sciences, Churchill College, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

Professional Experience

Biosciences Center Director, NREL (2020–present)          

Director, NEPTUNE Center for Power and Energy, Purdue University (2015–2020)

Professor, Biological Sciences, Purdue University (2010–2020)

Director, C3Bio (2009–2018)

Assistant Head, Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University (2007–2011)

Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University (2003–2010)

Royal Society University Research Fellowship, Department of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia (1995–2003)

Project Leader, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, John Innes Centre, United Kingdom (1995–2003)

Senior Scientific Officer, Department of Cell Biology, John Innes Centre, United Kingdom (1994–1995)

Higher Scientific Officer, Department of Cell Biology, John Innes Centre, United Kingdom (1990–1994)

Editorial and Advisory Boards

Member, National Academies Study Committee, “Safeguarding the Bioeconomy” (2019–2020)

Member, DOE Office of Science Biological and Environmental Remediation Advisory Committee (2019–2021)

Member, Bioenergy Technical Review Panel, NREL (2019–2021)

Co-Chair Gordon Research Conference: Plant Metabolic Engineering (2019 and 2017)

Member, National U.S. Department of Agriculture-DOE Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee (2011–2016)

Member, American Society of Plant Biology, Science Policy Committee (2010–2014)

Member, Energy and Environment Commission for Policy Recommendations in Indiana, Indiana University (2010–2011)

Advisory Board Member, Lugar Energy Center, Indiana University-Purdue University (2010–2016)

Monitoring Editor, Plant Physiology (2008–2012)

Monitoring Editor, Global Change Biology-Bioenergy (2008–2012)

DOE Committee of Visitors (Energy Biosciences) (2005)

Editorial Board Member, Planta (2000–2007)

Co-Chair, 8th International Cell Wall Meeting (1998)

Associations and Memberships

President-Elect, President, and Immediate Past-President, American Society of Plant Biologists (2019–2022)

Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science (2019)

Fellow of American Society of Plant Biology (2018)

DOE Oppenheimer Science and Energy Leadership Program (2017–2018)

Elected Member, Board of Directors, American Society of Plant Biology (2015–2019)

Member, DOE Office of Science, Council for Chemical and Biochemical Sciences (2012–2016)

Featured Work

Chimeric Plants – The Best of Both Worlds, Science (2020)

Redesigning Plant Cell Walls for the New Bioeconomy, Journal of Biological Chemistry (2020)

Rhamnogalacturonan-I Is a Determinant of Cell-Cell Adhesion in Poplar Wood, Plant Biotechnology Journal (2020)

Sustainable Production of Ammonia Fertilizers from Biomass, Biofuels, Bioproducts & Biorefining (2020)

Evolution of the Cell Wall Gene Families of Grasses, Frontiers in Plant Science (2019)

Differential Distributions of Trafficking and Signalling Proteins of the Maize ER-Golgi Apparatus, Plant Signaling & Behavior (2019)

Expression Profiles of Cell-Wall Related Genes Vary Broadly Between Two Common Maize Inbreds During Stem Development, BMC Genomics (2019)

Overcoming Cellulose Recalcitrance in Woody Biomass for the Lignin-First Biorefinery, Biotechnology for Biofuels (2019)

Glycome and Proteome Components of Golgi Membranes Are Common Between Two Angiosperms with Distinct Cell-Wall Structures, The Plant Cell (2019)

Enhanced Rates of Enzymatic Saccharification and Catalytic Synthesis of Biofuel Substrates in Gelatinized Cellulose Generated by Trifluoroacetic Acid, Biotechnology for Biofuels (2017)

Awards and Honors

Purdue’s Seeds of Success Award (2017, 2016, 2015, 2010, 2009, and 2005)

Purdue Agriculture TEAM Award (2014)

Leadership Award, Special University Merit Award, Purdue University (2008)

Walter Pilnik Lecture Award (1995)