{"id":39470,"date":"2025-05-06T14:37:26","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T18:37:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/?p=39470"},"modified":"2025-06-26T14:10:08","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T18:10:08","slug":"forest-biomaterials-professor-nathalie-lavoine-wins-nsf-career-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/2025\/05\/forest-biomaterials-professor-nathalie-lavoine-wins-nsf-career-award\/","title":{"rendered":"Forest Biomaterials Professor Nathalie Lavoine Wins NSF CAREER Award"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n

Nathalie Lavoine, an assistant professor in the Department of Forest Biomaterials at North Carolina State University, has been awarded a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award<\/a> from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for her nanomaterials research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CAREER Award is one of the NSF\u2019s most prestigious awards, supporting early career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models and lead advances in their fields. Lavoine is the second faculty member from the Department of Forest Biomaterials to receive the award since it was established in 1994.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cReceiving this award is both a tremendous honor and a deeply meaningful milestone in my academic journey,\u201d Lavoine said. \u201cIt affirms the potential of my research vision and reinforces my commitment to integrating cutting-edge scholarship with impactful education.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lavoine plans to use the five-year, nearly $750,000 grant from the NSF to advance her research on cellulose nanocrystals<\/a> for the creation of sustainable colors and materials for various products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cellulose nanocrystals are tiny, rod-shaped particles derived from cellulose \u2014 the main substance of a plant\u2019s cell walls. These particles can reflect light to produce iridescent colors, which could have potential uses in textiles, coatings and electronic devices, among other applications..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lavoine\u2019s research will specifically focus on how different surfaces and drying conditions affect the assembly of cellulose nanocrystals. The exact factors that control how these particles assemble and create colors are not completely understood yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe ability to control and fine-tune surface interactions and drying conditions is hypothesized to be critical for tailoring the properties and performance of cellulose nanocrystal-based materials,\u201d Lavoine said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She added, \u201cUnderstanding and optimizing these parameters is essential not only for fundamental insight, but also for enabling the scalable and reproducible development of these materials for advanced optical and functional applications.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cellulose nanocrystals have been successfully applied to wood, glass and plastic films and meshes. Lavoine hopes to ultimately expand the application of these particles by screening new surfaces and substrates, leading to innovations like smart windows, anti-corrosion coatings and even semiconductors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to her research, Lavoine plans to use the CAREER Award to establish an educational program that fosters hands-on learning and research experiences for undergraduate and graduate students, peer-teaching and mentoring for school teachers, and partnerships with communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis award not only provides crucial resources to pursue innovative research but also empowers me to mentor the next generation of scientists and scholars,” Lavoine said. “It serves as a powerful motivator to continue striving for excellence, collaboration, and broader societal impact through my work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lavoine earned a doctoral degree in materials science from the Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Science and Graphic Arts (LGP2) in France in 2013. It was at this time that she began to work with nanomaterials derived from wood.\u00a0She joined the College of Natural Resources in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout her career, Lavoine has authored or co-authored more than 50 peer-reviewed publications and has been recognized by numerous industry organizations for her contributions to research and development in renewable nanomaterials, including TAPPI’s NanoDivision Mid-Career Award<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lavoine’s “well-deserved” receipt of the CAREER Award underscores her continued “dedication and leading role of research in our field,” said Jingxin Wang, head of the Department of Forest Biomaterials. “I am hoping Nathalie’s innovative work continues to elevate our department.”<\/p>\n","protected":false,"raw":"\n\n\n\n\n

Nathalie Lavoine, an assistant professor in the Department of Forest Biomaterials at North Carolina State University, has been awarded a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award<\/a> from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for her nanomaterials research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CAREER Award is one of the NSF\u2019s most prestigious awards, supporting early career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models and lead advances in their fields. Lavoine is the second faculty member from the Department of Forest Biomaterials to receive the award since it was established in 1994.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cReceiving this award is both a tremendous honor and a deeply meaningful milestone in my academic journey,\u201d Lavoine said. \u201cIt affirms the potential of my research vision and reinforces my commitment to integrating cutting-edge scholarship with impactful education.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lavoine plans to use the five-year, nearly $750,000 grant from the NSF to advance her research on cellulose nanocrystals<\/a> for the creation of sustainable colors and materials for various products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cellulose nanocrystals are tiny, rod-shaped particles derived from cellulose \u2014 the main substance of a plant\u2019s cell walls. These particles can reflect light to produce iridescent colors, which could have potential uses in textiles, coatings and electronic devices, among other applications..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lavoine\u2019s research will specifically focus on how different surfaces and drying conditions affect the assembly of cellulose nanocrystals. The exact factors that control how these particles assemble and create colors are not completely understood yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe ability to control and fine-tune surface interactions and drying conditions is hypothesized to be critical for tailoring the properties and performance of cellulose nanocrystal-based materials,\u201d Lavoine said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She added, \u201cUnderstanding and optimizing these parameters is essential not only for fundamental insight, but also for enabling the scalable and reproducible development of these materials for advanced optical and functional applications.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cellulose nanocrystals have been successfully applied to wood, glass and plastic films and meshes. Lavoine hopes to ultimately expand the application of these particles by screening new surfaces and substrates, leading to innovations like smart windows, anti-corrosion coatings and even semiconductors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to her research, Lavoine plans to use the CAREER Award to establish an educational program that fosters hands-on learning and research experiences for undergraduate and graduate students, peer-teaching and mentoring for school teachers, and partnerships with communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis award not only provides crucial resources to pursue innovative research but also empowers me to mentor the next generation of scientists and scholars,\" Lavoine said. \"It serves as a powerful motivator to continue striving for excellence, collaboration, and broader societal impact through my work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lavoine earned a doctoral degree in materials science from the Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Science and Graphic Arts (LGP2) in France in 2013. It was at this time that she began to work with nanomaterials derived from wood.\u00a0She joined the College of Natural Resources in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout her career, Lavoine has authored or co-authored more than 50 peer-reviewed publications and has been recognized by numerous industry organizations for her contributions to research and development in renewable nanomaterials, including TAPPI's NanoDivision Mid-Career Award<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lavoine's \"well-deserved\" receipt of the CAREER Award underscores her continued \"dedication and leading role of research in our field,\" said Jingxin Wang, head of the Department of Forest Biomaterials. \"I am hoping Nathalie's innovative work continues to elevate our department.\"<\/p>\n"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lavoine will use the five-year, nearly $750,000 grant to advance her research on cellulose nanocrystals for the creation of sustainable colors and materials for various products.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":171,"featured_media":39476,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"source":"","ncst_custom_author":"","ncst_show_custom_author":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"ncst\/default-post-header","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"{\"displayCategoryID\":114,\"showAuthor\":true,\"showDate\":true,\"showFeaturedVideo\":false}","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","ncst_content_audit_display":false,"ncst_backToTopFlag":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[114,176,1,102,3],"tags":[255,359,269,39],"_ncst_magazine_issue":[],"class_list":["post-39470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fb-research","category-honors-and-awards","category-hidden-news","category-hidden-newswire","category-research-innovation","tag-biomaterials","tag-faculty-and-staff","tag-fb-research","tag-forest-biomaterials"],"displayCategory":{"term_id":114,"name":"Forest Biomaterials Research","slug":"fb-research","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":114,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":3,"count":18,"filter":"raw"},"acf":{"ncst_posts_meta_modified_date":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/171"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39470"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39798,"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39470\/revisions\/39798"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39470"},{"taxonomy":"_ncst_magazine_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_ncst_magazine_issue?post=39470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}