Katrina Cornish is an Ohio State University professor noted for developing natural rubber-producing alternatives to hevea brasiliensis.[1][2]

Education

edit

Cornish earned her B.Sc. with 1st class honors in 1978 at the University of Birmingham in the Biological Sciences program. In 1982, she completed a Ph.D. in Plant Biology at the same school.[3]

Career

edit

Cornish began her work on rubber in 1987 at Arizona State University. In 1989, the U.S. Department of Agriculture hired her to its ARS Western Regional Research Center in Albany, California where she led a program to produce natural rubber from goldenrod or guayule.[4] In 1997, Cornish patented a process to produce hypoallengic latex from guayule, and the patent was licensed to Yulex.[5] She joined Yulex in 2004 as Vice President of R&D. In 2010, Cornish joined the faculty at the Wooster, Ohio campus of Ohio State University as professor and research scholar for bioemergent materials.

Awards

edit
  • 2018 - Lifetime Achievement Award from the Bioenvironmental Polymer Society
  • 2024 – Charles Goodyear Medal of the Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society

References

edit
  1. ^ Cottrill, Sam (17 November 2023). "Katrina Cornish named 2024 Charles Goodyear Medalist". Rubber News. Crain. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  2. ^ Mooibroek, H.; Cornish, K. (2000). "Alternative sources of natural rubber". Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology. 53 (4): 355–365. doi:10.1007/s002530051627. PMID 10803889. S2CID 5580803.
  3. ^ "Women in Tire & Rubber: Katrina Cornish". Rubber News. Crain. 17 August 2020. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  4. ^ "Speeding Natural Rubber Production". Agricultural Research magazine. US Department of Agriculture. March 1995. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  5. ^ Wood, Marcia A. (January 22, 1997). "Guayule Latex Process Is Licensed". US Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 21 November 2023.