Douglas Gardner

Doug GardnerDoug Gardner is a Professor of Wood Science in the Department of Forest Management and the Advanced Engineered Wood Composites Center at the University of Maine. He has a BS degree in Forestry and Certificate of Advanced Study in Pulp and Paper Management from the university of Maine and a PhD degree from Mississippi State University.

Gardner’s research, teaching, and service activities focus on polymer and interfacial science aspects of wood-polymer hybrid composite materials. He is also involved in research in the areas of adhesion and surface science, extruded wood plastic composites, and the analysis of volatile organic compound emissions from wood composite processing. He has co-authored over 100 technical publications and 95 research presentations. He is a frequent contributing author and reviewer for the Forest Products Journal and Wood and Fiber Science. Doug also serves on the editorial advisory board of the Journal of Adhesion Science and Technology.

My Research

My research in WPCs is focused on the use of cellulosic fibers rather than glass fibers in sheet molding compounds, processing wood with engineering thermoplastics such as nylon to provide WPCs with improved thermal stability, and the manufacture of WPCs with biopolymers obtained from wood.

In Other Words

My research goals are to:

  1. Better understand how wood-based products stick together as the result of an adhesion or gluing process and
  2. Utilize the wood components derived from the Forest Biorefinery in new wood composite materials

My research efforts focus on wood adhesion and wood polymer composites (WPCs). Wood adhesion focuses on attempting to understand the chemistry and molecular interactions contribution to the adhesion process across a range of length scales from the nano to micron level.

Click to view Doug’s CV

My Publications

Contact Information

5793 AEWC Bldg, Room 231
University of Maine
Orono, ME 04469
tel: (207) 581-2846
fax: (207) 581-2074
E-mail: douglasg@maine.edu