Birgitte Ahring

Birgitte Ahring is a Professor in the Department of Biological Systems Engineering at the College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences and the Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering at Washington State University (WSU Tri-Cities). Her research focuses on biomass conversion to biofuels and high-value bioproducts, with expertise in pretreatment technologies like wet explosion, anaerobic digestion, and biorefinery design. She emphasizes full utilization of agricultural and forestry residues to reduce costs and enhance biorefinery viability.

Her work spans laboratory-scale innovations to pilot testing, including jet fuel production from fungi and lignocellulosic biomass processing. Key contributions include optimizing wet explosion pretreatment for diverse feedstocks (e.g., straw, wood, hog fuel) and enhancing anaerobic digestion efficiency through pretreatment innovations. She leads the Bioproducts, Science, and Engineering Laboratory (BSEL), advancing sustainable waste-to-biofuel systems and biorefinery integration.

Recent research trends highlight advancements in volatile fatty acid recovery from organic waste, membrane technologies for separation processes, and techno-economic assessments of biogas systems. Her publications reflect interdisciplinary approaches, combining microbial ecology, chemical engineering, and process design to address global sustainability challenges.

Dr. Ahring’s work contributes to circular economy strategies, particularly in valorizing sewage sludge and agricultural residues. She collaborates on projects involving microbial community analysis, bioaugmentation for methane enhancement, and biochar applications for nutrient recovery. Her labs and teams focus on scalable solutions for biofuel production and waste valorization.