“The foundation of my work is bioinspiration,” explains LaShanda Korley PhD ’05, @UDelaware professor of materials science and engineering as well as chemical and biomolecular engineering. “We don’t necessarily try to mimic materials—we take inspiration from those materials and translate aspects of those systems into new material development.” Korley is currently developing a synthetic polymer that changes shape when wet, much in the same way wet spider’s silk contracts. At the link in the bio, learn more about her research on nature-inspired polymers and work developing new chemical and catalytic processes for upcycling single-use plastics into fuels and other high-value products.