Alumni Feature: From lab bench to boardroom, Danielle Pascoli is giving waste a second life

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Danielle Pascoli in a graduation cap and gown
Danielle Pascoli holding nanocellulose film made from agricultural wastes.

Where some see waste, SEFS alumna Danielle Pascoli sees possibility. That perspective has led her from looking for higher-value uses for plant waste during her PhD to becoming the sole founder of an innovative nanofiber company in the last year.

As an undergraduate student in her home country of Brazil, Danielle was a biochemical engineering major when she joined a research project using waste material from sugarcane industry to make biofuels.

“That was the first time I did anything hands-on, and I remember my mind was blown. You’re taking trash and waste and you’re making a valuable product out of it. I was so in love with that idea that I knew I wanted to keep doing this for my career,” said Danielle.

Years later, Danielle joined the Bioresource Science and Engineering program at the UW School of Environmental and Forest Sciences (SEFS) to work with Professors Renata Bura and Rick Gustafson on biofuel research for her master’s degree. With a growing interest in working with longer-lasting materials, Danielle turned her focus to biomaterials, such as nanocellulose, for her PhD studies. Nanocellulose is a natural biopolymer made from plant materials that has unique properties, such as reinforcing and lightweighing, and can be used to create enhanced and more sustainable materials in many industries.

From cosmetics, electronics, and sensors, to packaging, plastic, and cement, nanocellulose has an array of applications. But the nanofibers currently on the market are made with expensive wood pulp materials through processes with a high environmental and economic cost, which limits their production on a large scale. Danielle and her advisors set out to find a better alternative.

“We wanted to solve that problem. That’s how it all started,” said Danielle. Using different types of waste from agricultural residues, invasive plant species, and industrial hemp, they started developing a low-cost process to produce nanocellulose. The project began with Washington State funding Prof. Gustafson and Bura’s effort to develop sustainable biobased industries for Lewis County – a region of the state that is aggressively developing its industrial base. One of the industries was the production of nanocellulose, and in the course of the research, it was discovered that reed canary grass, a widespread invasive species in the state that overtakes native plants and harms biodiversity, is an excellent feedstock for nanocellulose production. The use of an invasive species to produce a very high-value product is so compelling that Gustafson and Bura have since been awarded an additional $1 million from Washington State to continue this research.

Not only did their process work, the nanocellulose they created vastly improved the materials it was added to. When incorporated into biodegradable plastic, the material becomes stronger, tougher, and more flexible. What’s more, the process was by far more cost-effective than any existing system and could be adapted to a range of waste materials.

Danielle Pascoli and Professor Renata Bura
Danielle and Prof. Renata Bura in 2022.

In the last year of her PhD program, Danielle was mainly focused on testing the materials in front of her, and her impending graduation timeline. That changed when she attended a presentation on the Activate Fellowship program during a conference. Activate focuses on helping scientists turn their technologies into products, and bring real solutions to life through commercial enterprises. Both of Danielle’s advisors immediately encouraged her to apply, despite her initial hesitations.

“I was focused on graduating. That was my last year, I had my thesis defense coming up. I was like, ‘I’m worried about defending, I’m not worried about creating a company right now,’” said Danielle. But over the course of a few weeks, her advisors helped her see her own potential as an entrepreneur and leader, so she decided to submit an application based on the technology she developed at the UW.

The fellowship kicked off a whirlwind journey that led Danielle to defend her thesis, complete her PhD, move to a different state, and start a company on her own in the span of the summer of 2022. She faced a massive transition from the academic world and soon found the NSF’s Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program to help build her entrepreneurial skills and confidence. The I-Corps program is an immersive, entrepreneurial training program that facilitates scientists along the transformation toward commercialization.

In the year since Danielle launched VERDE Nanomaterials, she has tackled a dramatic learning curve. From finding funders and market testing products to navigating all the bureaucratic red tape that accompanies running a business, she was grateful for the continued support of her former advisors and fellows cohort.

“It wasn’t something that I was born with, thinking ‘I’m going to create a company. I’m an entrepreneur.’ It really grew on me over time,” said Danielle.

Danielle Pascoli poses with a poster
Danielle Pascoli at a startup showcase at Climate Tech Cocktails at UC Berkeley (2023).

Her first year as a company founder was far from easy. She had to learn how not to think like a scientist 100% of the time, and start seeing the world from a business perspective. She learned that just having really cool technology is not enough. Figuring out what value your technology brings to the world is key to success.

Now, Danielle is building a vision for her budding company. Currently, she’s testing materials to find out what type of product will be most cost-effective, in demand, and effective to produce as her first prototype. In the coming year, Danielle plans to hire her first employee.

Having mentors that helped her take the leap out of the lab and into creating real-world solutions has allowed her to go farther than she ever anticipated.

“I am 100% sure that if I weren’t at SEFS, working with the people I worked with, I would never be doing what I’m doing right now. It felt like I wasn’t trying anything by myself. I really had a network of support that was there, saying ‘you can do it,’” said Danielle.

Bioresource Science and Engineering Students win the Spark Award at Environmental Innovation Challenge

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A team from the SEFS Bioresource Science and Engineering program received a $1,000 Spark Award at the 2023 UW Alaska Environmental Innovation Challenge, an annual competition inspiring university students solve environmental and cleantech problems.

three people pose together outdoors holding an envelope
Green Grab, the winning BSE team

The Green Grab team was a top finalist out of 21 groups selected to showcase their solutions to judges in March. They developed a compostable and recyclable food tray made from Reed Canary Grass, an invasive plant, and nanocellulose, a light solid substance obtained from plant matter produced with a proprietary process developed at SEFS. The trays present an alternative to plastic or existing molded-fiber products as they are made without PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), a large, complex group of synthetic chemicals that accumulate over time in the human body and the environment. Some compostable containers contain PFAS to strengthen the material, leading to issues with PFAS contamination in compost piles.

Congratulations to Green Grab!

Undergrad Spotlight: Samantha Mendez

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by Karl Wirsing/SEFS

For someone about to graduate with an engineering degree, SEFS senior Samantha Mendez got hooked on her program through a surprisingly mundane product: a popcorn bag.

Sam grew up in Sacramento, Calif., until she was 13, when her family moved to Spokane, Wash. That’s where she attended part of middle and high school, and it’s also where she met Tom Wolford, executive director of the Washington Pulp and Paper Foundation (WPPF) at the time.

Tom was giving an info session on the Bioresource Science and Engineering (BSE) program at SEFS, and one of his demonstrations—involving that popcorn bag—struck Sam immediately. Tom spoke about how something as ordinary and overlooked as that bag was the product of a lot of people spending a great deal of time making it perfect. Sam liked the buzz about scholarships and internships and job opportunities, too, but she found the popcorn story particularly entrancing. “That was my first introduction to the industry, and I really liked it,” she says. “It was a turning point for me.”

Sam and her mom at the annual WPPF luncheon, where she was honored with the UW TAPPI Award.
Sam with her mom at the annual WPPF luncheon, where she was honored with the UW TAPPI Award.

Sam graduated high school in the spring of 2011 and enrolled at the University of Washington the next fall. The summer after her freshman year, she decided to take some classes at a community college back in Spokane. She wanted to catch up on a few prerequisites—including linear algebra, differential equations and organic chemistry—and she ended up extending at Spokane Falls Community College for the whole next year before returning to SEFS in 2013.

As soon as Sam settled into the BSE program, everything clicked. She felt at home with the small class sizes and close contact with professors, and she loved knowing all of her classmates by name. She got involved in the UW student chapter of the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI), including attending the 2015 TAPPI Student Summit in Savannah, Ga., and serving as chapter president this past year. She spent countless hours working with the paper machine in Bloedel Hall, attended PaperCon this past May in Cincinnati, Ohio, and also gained tremendous hands-on experience through several internships.

Her first was a three-month stint with the Ponderay Newsprint Company just north of Spokane in the small town of Usk, Wash. Sam worked as an engineering intern and got to assist with a range of projects, from statistical analysis and validation of testing equipment, to helping reallocate jobs for the workers. Her schedule involved four 10-hour days, Monday through Thursday, while she stayed at her aunt and uncle’s place along the Pend Oreille River. She’d come home after work, go for a run and then jump in the river to cool off. Then on Fridays, she’d head to her parents’ home in Spokane and work about 20 more hours over the weekend at an orchard. “It was really fun, and I learned a lot,” she says.

Sam, at work here in the paper lab, cites the small class sizes and accessibility of professors as huge reasons for her success. “Renata [Bura] is such a mom,” she says. “She’s fantastic.”
Sam, at work here in the paper lab, cites the small class sizes and accessibility of professors as huge reasons for her success. “Renata [Bura] is such a mom,” she says. “She’s fantastic.”
The next summer, she started what would become a 15-month internship with NORPAC in Longview, Wash. Working about 50 hours a week, Sam spent the first nine months on the paper machines, and then six months in the pulp mill.

Now, in a week she will head to Ashdown, Ark., for her third and final internship—this time with Domtar as a process engineering intern. WPPF had invited Domtar to campus earlier this year for an info session, and Sam scored two interviews and then a job offer in the same day.

She thoroughly enjoyed everyone she met with the company, and she’s looking forward to her first experience in the South. She’s also keen to work for a company that’s launching a new fluff pulp machine (used primarily for diapers). “It’s a rare opportunity to get to start up a new machine,” she says. “That’s what I’m most excited about.”

Perhaps the best part about this internship—like the two before it—is that it is fully paid. In fact, between her internships, the Del Rio Environmental Studies Scholarship she won her freshman year, and other WPPF support, Sam has been able to pay for most of her education. That’s a fairly remarkable achievement in today’s college environment, and Sam will head into her Domtar internship for what is essentially an extended interview process, with the potential to stay on permanently.

Before she leaves SEFS for good, though, Sam has one course to complete this fall with Professor Rick Gustafson. But first, she will be walking with the 17 members of her class at this Friday’s graduation as a worthy send-off for so many years of studying and working so closely together. “It’s such a great group of students,” she says, “and I’m proud and excited to be walking with them.”

Photos © SEFS.

Sam (back middle) and some of her BSE classmates.
Sam (back left) and some of her BSE classmates at the WPPF banquet on May 26.

 

New Faculty Intro: Anthony Dichiara

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This fall, we were very excited to welcome Professor Anthony Dichiara as a new faculty member with our Bioresource Science and Engineering (BSE) program. Dichiara joins us after two years with the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, N.Y., where he had been working as a postdoc with Professor Reginald Rogers. He brings an extensive background in materials science and engineering, and his research here will focus on the synthesis of carbon-based nanomaterials from biomass—with applications in multifunctional composites and environmental remediation, including the development of innovative ways to improve the sustainability of the biorefinery process.

“I’ve always been interested in nanomaterials,” says Dichiara, who grew up near Fontainebleau, France, about an hour outside of Paris. “From a very early age, you have those people who are interested in space and everything that’s huge. On the reverse end, I was always into everything that’s small. You look at planets, I look at atoms.”

Dichiara and his wife Emma are living in Bellevue, and they have a little boy, Ayden, who’s 16 months old.
Dichiara and his wife Emma are living in Bellevue with son Ayden, who is 16 months old.

Dichiara earned his bachelor’s and master’s in materials science and engineering, as well as a master’s in optics and nanotechnology, from the University of Technology in Troyes, France. He then earned his Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from École Centrale Paris in 2012.

As part of his master’s double degree program, Dichiara spent about a year on a fellowship doing research in optical applications of nanomaterials in Hsinchu, the Silicon Valley of Taiwan. It was a defining experience personally and professionally, he says, as he met his future wife Emma there and sharpened his career outlook. “When I was doing my research in Taiwan, that’s when I realized I wanted to work with nanomaterials for my career,” he says. “That’s where I decided I wanted to go into academia and have more freedom with my research.”

Dichiara’s research initially focused on synthesizing nanomaterials, which are comprised of incredibly tiny nanoparticles and have broad uses in industries from healthcare to electronics and aerospace. His pioneering work on hybrid structures contributed to record performances in multifunctional polymer composites and water purification.

His overall goals haven’t changed, he says, but at SEFS he’s shifting to a biomass perspective and no longer using synthetic materials. He’ll be starting from nature, trying to create carbon-based nanomaterials that mimic the natural world—and that have powerful applications in the production of biofuels and other bioproducts.

Working with his new BSE colleagues, he’s already collaborating on a project to increase the efficiency of water treatment at biorefineries. That’s one of the main costs of producing biofuels, and Dichiara is looking to improve methods of cleaning toxic pollutants from the water to make the biorefinery process more cost-effective and sustainable. A related project involves working with biomass that comes from waste management, and trying to transform those materials into high-value products to treat water at a biorefinery. It’s using waste from one industry to solve the challenges of another. The result would be a synergistic, highly sustainable waste management system that brings us closer to the long-term goal of a biorefinery that create zero emissions and zero waste.

As he jumps into these projects, Dichiara has been getting settled in his office in Bloedel 288, and his lab refurbishment should be complete by the end of November. He’s hoping to start advertising for grad students this spring, as well, and he already started teaching this quarter with BSE 248: Paper Properties. “It’s pretty exciting to meet the students from UW,” he says. “They are really bright and dynamic.”

It’s wonderful to have Dichiara’s energy and expertise at SEFS, and we hope you’ll join us in welcoming him to our community!

Photo © Anthony Dichiara.

BSE Students Participate in Women in Science and Engineering Conference

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On Saturday, February 28, Bioresource Science and Engineering (BSE) students Kaila Turner (below left) and Anna Song participated in the 24th annual Women in Science & Engineering Conference. Hosted by the UW College of Engineering at the Husky Union Building, the day-long event celebrated women in engineering fields and careers, and Kaila and Anna—sporting sharp BSE tees—represented our school enthusiastically!

Nice work!

Kaila Turner and Anna Song