• Valorizing bio-based resources for utilization in polymeric and composite materials eg. design of lignin-based polymers
• Cellulose-based nanocomposites and surface treatments for bio-based materials
• Physical and viscoelastic properties of wood and wood-based materials
• Adhesion in wood-based materials
• Nanometer scale design of wood-polymer composites

Marie-Pierre Laborie was born in Montpellier (France) in 1972 and received an engineering degree from ENSTIB (Wood science and Timber Engineering, University of Nancy 1, France) in 1996. In 2002 she earned her PhD in Forest Products at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (USA) with a dissertation on the wood/adhesive interphase morphology. She subsequently joined the faculty of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Washington State University (USA) and developed her research program in the area of bio-based polymers and composites. There, she received tenure and was promoted to Associate Professor in August 2008. During her sabbatical in the fall of 2008, at the International School of Paper, Print media and Biomaterials (PAGORA) of Grenoble Polytechnic Institute (France), she focused her research on bio-based nanocomposites. She now holds the chair in forest Utilization in the college of Forest and Environmental Sciences at the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg. She currently serves on the editorial boards of several international scientific journals related to materials from renewable resources and is the Award Chair of the Cellulose and Renewable Materials Division of the American Chemical Society.

• Y. Geng and M.-P. Laborie. 2010. The impact of silane chemistry conditions on the properties of wood plastic composites with low density polyethylene and high wood content. Polymer Composites 31(5), 897-905.

• A. P. Mathew†, M.-P. Laborie and K.Oksman. 2009. Cross-linked chitosan -chitin whiskers nanocomposites with improved permeation selectivity and pH stability, Biomacromolecules , 10(6), 1627-1632. (IF=4.169)
• J. Wang*, M.-P. Laborie† and M. Wolcott, 2009. Kinetic analysis of phenol-formaldehyde bonded wood joints, Thermochimica Acta 491, 58–62. (IF=1.562)
• Y. Geng and M.-P. Laborie† 2009. The impact of silane chemistry conditions on the properties of wood plastic composites with low density polyethylene and high wood content, 2009. DOI: 10.1002/pc.20873 , Polymer Composites. (IF=1.058)
• D. Harper†, M.-P. Laborie and M. Wolcott 2009. The Impact of Polypropylene-graft-Maleic Anhydride on the Crystallization and Dynamic Mechanical Properties of Isotactic Polypropylene, Journal of Applied Polymer Science. 111(2) 753-748. (IF=1.008)

• American Chemical Society
• Forest Products Society
• Society of Wood Science and Technology

• Best poster award, 2008. 3rd International Conference on Environmentally Compatible Forest Products, Porto, Portugal, co-authored with I. Reiniati & A. McDonald.

• Wood award, 2007, awarded to Jinwu Wang, PhD candidate, M.-P. Laborie, co-chair. (2nd place, 2 awards annually by the Forest Products Society, for outstanding graduate student research).

• Exceed Award, 2004, (Invitation to the workshop Excellence in Engineering Education, Lafayette, AR)

• Best paper award, 2002. 6th Pacific-Rim Bio-based Composite Symposium & Workshop on the Chemical Modification of Cellulosics, co-authored with L. Salmén and C.E. Frazier, (award every two years for best research papers among ca. 80 papers).

• Young faculty recognitions, 2002, 2003, 2005. College of Engineering and Architecture, Washington State University, Pullman, WA.

*You can view a full list of awards, and publications in Marie Pierre's CV.