Joseph Samec
Stockholm University, Sweden
Keynote lecture Tuesday, 2 June 2026
Title
Valorisation of Bark: A Gate Opener to Forest Residues
Bio
Joseph S. M. Samec received his Ph.D. in 2005 from Stockholm University, Sweden, with Prof. Jan-E. Bäckvall. He did a postdoc with Nobel Laureate Prof. Robert H. Grubbs (2006–2007) at CalTech and worked as a research manager at OrganoClick (2008–2009). He began his independent research career at Uppsala University and moved to Stockholm University in 2015. He performed a sabbatical at the University of Padova, Italy (2021), learning life cycle assessment. His research interests involve green and sustainable chemistry, focusing on carbon–oxygen bond cleavage. He has started several spin-off companies: Lignin Industries, RenFuel (sold to Bioleum corp.) and LigniCore: all valorizing lignin from the forestry industry. Since 2026, he is the director of sustainability for Wallenberg Initiative Materials Science for Sustainability.
