A plot of switchgrass grows in the Great Lake Bioenergy Research Center's fields at the Arlington Agricultural Research Station in Arlington, WI. Photo by Matthew Wisniewski

Great Lakes Bioenergy

Great Lakes Bioenergy is a U.S. Department of Energy-funded research center dedicated to developing sustainable biofuels and bioproducts.

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Who We Are

The Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) is a U.S. Department of Energy-funded Bioenergy Research Center led by the University of Wisconsin–Madison. With Michigan State University and other partners, we are developing sustainable biofuels and bioproducts made from dedicated energy crops grown on marginal lands. Our mission is simple: creating biofuels and bioproducts that are economically viable and environmentally sustainable.

Research Themes

Sustainable cropping systems

Engineering bioenergy crops to enhance their environmental and economic value

Generating multiple products from plant biomass

Understanding and optimizing the field-to-product pipeline

Zooming in: Studying soil at the microscopic level to solve big problems

A smiling researcher in a greenhouse holds up a small plant with intact root system and visible root nodules, with potted plants visible in the background.

Since joining the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center in 2022, Poulamee Chakraborty has authored papers on the legacy of agricultural management practices on switchgrass growth and soil carbon gains, the ways soil pores affect microbial oxygen consumption, and the soil carbon impact of plants engineered to accumulate readily-accessible carbohydrates.

John Ralph elected to National Academy of Sciences

Two researchers in white lab coats examine a sample being loaded into an automated NMR or chromatography instrument (SampleJet autosampler), with a digital display showing sample number 91.

Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center co-investigator John Ralph has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest honors a scientist can receive, in recognition of his research accomplishments.