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Sustainable Biomass Conversion

Graduate Student Spotlight: Samantha Kelly

Samatha Kelly is a first year PhD student in the Donohue and Noguera labs. She works in late-stage bioprocessing, engineering microbes to break down complex plant structures like lignin and to separate the most useful products. 

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| Jill Sakai
A study published April 6 in ChemSusChem, is featured on the journal's cover. The paper brings together a diverse team with expertise in many different fields to address a complex problem: how to make a biorefinery biologically and economically sustainable.
| Jill Sakai

Researchers at the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have developed a method to create hybrid yeasts that combine traits from up to six different species. The approach allows scientists to harness advantageous traits from many species in a single strain tailored for a specific use, such as producing biofuels.

| Caroline Brooks

In a study published in Nature Sustainability, an ecosystem scientist and an agricultural economist outline how to develop a more sustainable land management system through data collection and stakeholder buy-in.

| Joy Landis

Entomology graduate student Allison Zahorec has received $138,000 for three years to learn more about how soil microarthropod communities found in various bioenergy crop systems influence microbial and plant functions that help soils retain carbon.

| Val Osowski
The Michigan State University (MSU) Innovation Center has named Federica Brandizzi, MSU Foundation Professor of Plant Biology, as the MSU Innovator of the Year for her groundbreaking work in plant biology. The Brandizzi lab is investigating the technology needed to help plant cells soften their cell walls to allow them to expand and grow bigger in the field.
| Adam Malecek

As our world faces massive shortages of N95 masks, there is growing concern for the safety of healthcare workers who rely on these specialized masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE) to treat COVID-19 patients.

| Jason Daley

Replacing fossil fuels with electricity or biofuels does not mean reliance on gas and oil will go away overnight. In addition to transportation fuels, petroleum is refined into hundreds of petrochemicals used in everything from plastics and pharmaceuticals to carpets and fertilizers, and currently there are no easy ways to produce most of these chemicals without using oil.

| Jill Sakai
Tim Donohue, UW Foundation Fetzer-Bascom Professor of Bacteriology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and interim director of the Wisconsin Energy Institute (WEI), testified in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, March 3, before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Science, Oceans, Fisheries, and Weather.
| Jason Daley

Someday soon, oil refineries may trade in crude oil for agricultural waste like corn stalks or renewable plants like switchgrass in order to produce sustainable biofuels. But we’re not there quite yet; converting those products into usable chemicals on a large scale requires efficient catalytic reactions, which researchers are still hunting for.

| Staff
A new Michigan State University study shines a light on how big data and digital technologies can help farmers better adapt to threats — both present and future — from a changing climate.

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