World Environment

World Environment is an open access, peer-reviewed scientific journal that publishes original articles, critical reviews, research notes, debate and short reports in all areas related to the environment. These areas include basic science (chemistry, physics, biology and geology), ecology, agriculture, economics, education, engineering, geography, health, law, nanotechnology, planning and policy, politics, sociology, trade and commerce.


Yanna Liang

Editorial Board Member of World Environment

Assistant Professor, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, USA

Research Areas

Bioenvironmental Engineering, Biofuel Production

Education

1992B.E.Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Environmental Engineering
2003M.S.Utah State University, Environmental Engineering
2006Ph.DUtah State University, Environmental Engineering
2006-2006PostdocUtah Water Research Laboratory, Bioenvironmental Engineering

Experience

2007-presentAssistant Professor Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
2007Air Quality Analyst III Idaho Department of Environmental Quality
1992-2000Professional Engineer Weihai Environmental Protection Agency, China

Academic Achievement

Adjunct Professor, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, 2010
2009 ASCE ExCEED Teaching Fellow
2009 SIUC Research, Scholarly and Creative Activity Awards
2006 AWRA-Utah section graduate student paper contest, first place
2005 EWRI graduate student technical paper contest, second place
2004-2006 Inland Northwest Research Alliance (INRA) fellow
2004 Air & Waste Management Association (AWMA) Scholarship

Membership

Tau Beta Pi-the Engineering honor society
Institute of Biological Engineering (Award search committee)
American Society of Civil Engineers
Society for Industrial Microbiology

Publications: Journals

[1]  Yanna Liang, 2011. Sorghum: Genetic Improvement for Biofuel Purpose. (Invited review). European Journal of Plant Science and Biotechnology. In review.
[2]  Ruplal Choudharya, Arosha Loku Umagiliyage, Y. Liang, Thara Siddaramu, John Haddock, Gediminas Markevicius. 2011. Microwave pretreatment for enzymatic saccharification of sweet sorghum bagasse. Biomass and Bioenergy. In review.
[3]  Yanna Liang, Tianyu Tang, Thara Siddaramu, Ruplal Choudhary, Arosha Loku Umagiliyage. 2011. Lipid production from sweet sorghum bagasse through yeast fermentation. Renewable Energy. In review.
[4]  Tianyu Tang, Arosha Loku Umagiliyage, Thara Siddaramu, Matt McCarroll, Ruplal Choudhary, Yanna Liang. 2011. Utilization of sorghum bagasse hydrolysates for producing microbial lipids. Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology. In review.
[5]  Liang Y.-N., Yi Cui, Jesse Trushenski, James Blackburn. 2010. Converting crude glycerol derived from yellow grease to lipids through yeast fermentation. Bioresour. Technol. 101, 7581-7586.
[6]  Liang Y.-N., Nicolas Sarkany, Yi Cui, James Blackburn. 2010. Batch stage study of lipid production from crude glycerol derived from yellow grease or animal fats through microalgal fermentation. Bioresour. Technol. 101(17):6745-50.
[7]  Liang Y.-N., Thara Siddaramu, Jemil Yesuf, Nicolas Sarkany. 2010. Fermentable sugar release from Jatropha seed cakes following lime pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis. Bioresour. Technol. 101(16):6417-24.
[8]  Liang Y.-N., Yesuf J., Feng Z-S. 2010. Toward plant cell wall degradation under thermophilic condition: a unique microbial community developed originally from swine waste. Appl. Biochem. Biotechnol. 161: 147-156.
[9]  Liang Y.-N., Sarkany N, Yesuf J., Cui Yi, Trushenski J., Blackburn, J. 2010. Use of sweet sorghum juice for lipid production by Schizochytrium limacinum SR21. Bioresour. Technol. 101, 3623-3627.
[10]  Liang Y.-N., Feng Z-S, Yesuf J. Blackburn JW. 2010. Optimization of growth medium and enzyme assay conditions for crude cellulases produced by a novel thermophilic and cellulolytic bacterium, Anoxybacillus sp. 527. Appl. Biochem. Biotechnol. 160, 1841-1852.
[11]  Liang Y.-N., Yesuf J., Schmitt S., Bender K., and Bozzola J. 2009. Study of cellulases from a newly-isolated thermophilic and cellulolytic Brevibacillus sp. strain JXL. J. Ind. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 36, (7), 961-970.
[12]  Liang Y.-N., Sarkany N., and Cui Y. 2009. Biomass and lipid productivities of Chlorella vulgaris under autotrophic, heterotrophic and mixotrophic growth conditions. Biotech. Lett. 31(7), 1043-1049.
[13]  Blackburn J. W.; Liang Y.-N., Das D. 2009. Biohydrogen from complex carbohydrate wastes as feedstocks-cellulose degraders from a unique series enrichment, Int. J. Hyrogen Energy, 34, 7428-7434.
[14]  Liang, Y.-N., Sorensen, D. L., McLean, J. E., and Sims, R. C. 2008. Pyrene fate affected by humic acid amendment in soil slurry systems. Journal of Biological Engineering. 2:11.
[15]  Liang, Y.-N., Britt, D. W., McLean, J. E., Sorensen, D. L., and Sims, R. C. 2007. Humic acid effect on pyrene degradation: finding of an optimal range for pyrene solubility and mineralization enhancement. Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 74 (6): 1368-1375.
[16]  Child R., Miller C.D., Liang Y., Sims R.C. and Anderson A.J. 2007. Pyrene mineralization by Mycobacterium strain KMS in a barley rhizosphere. J. Environmental Quality. 36: 1260-1265.
[17]  Child, R., Miller, C. D., Liang, Y.-N., Narasimham, G., Chatterton, J., Harrison, P., Sims, R. C., Britt, D., and Anderson, A. J. 2007. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-degrading Mycobacterium isolates: their association with plant roots. Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 75 (3): 655-663.
[18]  Liang, Y.-N., D. R. Gardner, C. D. Miller, C. Dong, A. J. Anderson, B. C. Weimer, and R. C. Sims. 2006. Study of Biochemical Pathways and Enzymes Involved in Pyrene Degradation by Mycobacterium sp. Strain KMS. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72 (12): 7821-7828.
[19]  Miller, C.D., Hall, K., Liang, Y.-N., Nieman, K., Sorensen, D., Issa, B., Anderson, A.J. and Sims, R.C. (2004). "Isolation and characterization of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-degrading Mycobacterium isolates from soil." Microb. Ecol. 48(2), 230-8.

Publications: Conferences/Workshops/Symposiums

[1]  Yanna Liang. 2011. Sweet sorghum for biofuel production. Institute of Biological Engineering. Atlanta, GA, March 3-5.
[2]  Yi Cui, Yanna Liang, James Blackburn. Biofuel production from industrial waste crude glycerol through yeast fermentation. Institute of Biological Engineering. Atlanta, GA, March 3-5.
[3]  Tianyu Tang, Yanna Liang, Matt McCarroll. Fluorescent measurements of neutral lipids in yeast cells by using nile red. Institute of Biological Engineering. Atlanta, GA, March 3-5.
[4]  Yi Cui, James Blackburn, Yanna Liang. 2010. Identifying the optimal parameters for yeast fermentation on crude glycerol for lipid production. AIChE annual meeting, Salt Lake City, UT, November 7-12.
[5]  Yanna Liang, 2010. Biofuel production from various feedstocks through microalgal fermentation. International Bioenergy Day (IBED), Rockford, IL. Sep. 26-29.
[6]  Yanna Liang, Nick Sarkany, Yi Cui. 2010. Omega-3 fatty acid production from crude glycerol through microalgal fermentation. 32nd Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals, Clearwater, FL, Apr. 19-22.
[7]  Yanna Liang, Yi Cui. 2010. Hydrocarbon fuel production from microbial oils. 32nd Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals, Clearwater, FL, Apr. 19-22.
[8]  Yanna Liang, Jemil Yesuf. 2010. Thermostable enzymes from cellulolytic bacteria toward cellulose degradation. 32nd Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals, Clearwater, FL, Apr. 19-22.
[9]  Ruplal Choudhary, Arosha Umagiliyage, Yanna Liang, John Haddock, Gediminas Markevicius, Vivak Malhotra. Optimization of microwave assisted lime pretreatment of sweet sorghum bagasse for enzymatic saccharification. 32nd Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals, Clearwater, FL, Apr. 19-22.
[10]  Xuegang Jia, Luke Tolley, Yanna Liang 2009. Bioassay Guided Fractionation for the Isolation of Active Proteins from Complex Mixtures. 36th ACS Northeast Regional Meeting, October 7-9, Hartford, CT.
[11]  Yanna Liang, Jemil Yesuf, Zisong Feng. 2009. "Cellulose degradation: two potential novel cellulolytic bacteria able to produce thermostable cellulases". 31st Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals. May 3-6, San Francisco.
[12]  Blackburn J. W., Liang, Y.-N., Das, D., 2008. Biohydrogen from Wastes. International workshop on biohydrogen production technology, Feb. 7-9, India.
[13]  Miller, C.D., Zhang C., Liang, Y.-N., Child R., Sims, R.C., and Anderson, A.J. (2007). Biosensing of Mycobacteria with the potential to degrade polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Environmental Sensing Symposium, October 25-26th, Boise, ID.
[14]  Sorensen, D.L., McLean, J.E., Liang, Y.-N., Norton, J.M., Dupont, R. (2007). Bacteria in iron reducer enrichments from TCE contaminated aquifer material at Hill Air Force Base, Environmental and Subsurface Science Symposium, July 25-27th, Logan, UT.
[15]  Miller, C.D., Zhang, C., Liang, Y.-N., Pettee, B., Sims, R.C., and Anderson, A.J. (2007). Mycobacterium: Proteomics and genetics for bioremediation, Environmental and Subsurface Science Symposium, July 25-27th, Logan, UT.
[16]  Yanna Liang (2006). Can humic acid act as a flushing agent and biostimulant? AWRA Utah section 2006 34th annual conference "meeting Utah's future water needs", May 8-9, Salt Lake City, UT.
[17]  Yanna Liang (2005). Biodegradation of pyrene in soil microcosms: identification of a novel intermediate. Proceedings of EWRI World Water and Environmental Resources Congress, May 15-19, Anchorage, AL.
[18]  Darwin Sorensen, Jing Zhou, Jeanette Norton, Joan McLean, Ryan Dupont, Yanna Liang. (2007). Rhodoferax-Like Bacteria in Biostimulated Solids from TCE Contaminated Aquifers. American Society of Microbiology General Meeting, May 21-25, Toronto, Canada.
[19]  Darwin Sorensen, Jeanette Norton, Ryan Dupont, Yanna Liang, Joan McLean. (2007). TCE Contaminated Aquifer Bacteria that Reduce Fe(III) from Goethite, Poorly Crystalline Iron Oxide and/or Fe(III)NTA. American Society of Microbiology General Meeting, May 21-25, Toronto, Canada.

Publications: Books/Book Chapters

[1]  Liang Y.-N., 2011. Sweet sorghum as an energy crop. In Sorghum: Cultivation, Varieties and Uses. Edited by Tomás D. Pereira, Nova Science Publishers, Inc., Hauppauge, NY. ISBN: 978-1-61209-688-9.
[2]  Liang Y.-N., 2011. A critical review: microalgal CO2 sequestration, which strain is the best? In Microalgae: Biotechnology, Microbiology and Energy. Nova Science Publishers, Inc., Hauppauge, NY. In Press.
[3]  Liang Y.-N., 2011. Utilization of xylose for producing bio-based fuels. In Xylose: Production, Consumption and Health Benefits. Nova Science Publishers, Inc., Hauppauge, NY. In Press.