The Education and Outreach area of GLBRC supports and collaborates on a diverse array of programs, which complement our mission and goals. These programs mainly address the needs of K-12 and undergraduate learning communities, and topically address bioenergy-related issues ranging from biotechnology to sustainability. Click on the title to be redirected to the programs website or for more information.

Research Experience for Teachers (RET) (UW): 

The RET allows grade 6 -14 science or agriculture teachers to spend 6 weeks on campus in the summer to develop a classroom lab or activity related to bioenergy. RET participants work with their mentor scientist to learn about the research and techniques used, and then collaborate with the mentor and the E&O staff to create a related activity that could be used in a school setting. Applications closed for 2010. Overview of projects from 2009-10. Article: A Summer in the Lab

Bioenergy Institute for Educators (UW):

This eight day Institute designed primarily for 6-12 grade educators, will allow teams of teachers to explore bioenergy development use and applications, issues around biofuel sustainability, and development of inquiry-based classroom materials. Click here to see last year's application.

The 2010 IBS-SRP - Bioenergy Group (IBS-SRP) (UW):
The Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center will direct an undergraduate research program during Summer 2010. The program is part of the Integrated Biological Sciences Summer Research Program (IBS_SRP), which provides students an opportunity to conduct research as well as interact with peers in an interdisciplinary learning community. Participating undergraduate students will spend ten weeks in a laboratory conducting full-time research in microbial conversion of biomass to biofuels, genomics, enzymology, protein structure, molecular biology, plant breeding, or sustainability analysis.
Article: A Summer in the Lab

Kellogg Biological Station Summer Research Experience for Undergraduates (MSU):
The Sustainability Thrust of the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) will offer a summer undergraduate research program at the Kellogg Biological Station (KBS), Michigan State University, focusing on the sustainability of biofuels. In addition to working with a mentor on an individual research project, students will participate in weekly discussions focusing on environmental, ecological, and economic implications of alternative biofuel practices. Students also will meet researchers working on different aspects of biofuel production, from engineering systems to molecular biology, and take field trips to production facilities. Students will present their research finding in a community-wide poster session at the end of the program.

Summer Research Experience in Bioenergy (MSU):
The ten week program is designed to give students experience in the theory and practice of bioenergy in the areas of biology, chemistry, chemical engineering and computational sciences, as a part of the Plant Genomics Internship experience at MSU. It includes a variety of projects and participating laboratories and will collaborate with the field-oriented KBS summer research experience (described above) for common experiences. While the main emphasis is on gaining laboratory experience, the ten week program includes informal lectures from faculty and social activities.

International Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) Competition Team (UW):
The underlying, long-term goal of the iGEM Competition team at UW-Madison is to promote education and research in biological engineering. The iGEM undergraduate competition was established at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2004 to address whether simple biological systems might be constructed from standard, interchangeable parts in living cells. The competition is designed to enable the systematic engineering of biological systems by bringing together teams from around the world and providing a forum for the open development and sharing of biological protocols, reagents, and tools. The 2009 UW-Madison team will focus on bioenergy and consist of approximately 8 undergraduate students, a graduate research assistant, and five faculty advisers. In general, the students span a range of disciplines covering engineering, genetics, biochemistry, mathematics, microbiology, and immunology. The 2008 team (http://www.news.wisc.edu/15867) was awarded a bronze metal for their work. For more information, please contact Brian Pfleger (pfleger@engr.wisc.edu). Photo by David Appleyard.

Wisconsin Fast Plants (UW):
Over the past 20 years the Wisconsin Fast Plants Program has been working with teachers, scientist and other educators to demonstrate the importance of understanding life cycles, plant biology, genetics and its relationship to the environment through data collection and analysis, using a model organism, Brassica-rapa. In 2009, working in partnership with GLBRC, the Wisconsin Fast Plants Program staff and undergraduates propose to broaden our available instructional materials and research data sets to support building teacher and student understandings with relationship to fundamental bioenergy concepts.

Environmental Literacy Project (MSU):
Our goal is to integrate Environmental Literacy into contemporary K-12 curriculum. We have four working groups, each of which is working on different strands of environmental literacy: carbon cycle, water cycle,biodiversity and evolution, and connecting actions. The groups consist of university-based researchers and K-12 teachers. Our major products of past work are: (a) research papersaddressing student conceptions of environmental issues; (b) assessents that can be used with elementary, middle, and high school students. Read about the GK-12 Partnership Bioenergy Sustainability Project at Kellogg Biological Station.

VIEW RELATED BIOENERGY PROGRAMS