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.
Midwestern farmers could play an immediate and significant role in fighting climate change by adopting practices that trap more carbon in the soil, according to a nationwide analysis of strategies for removing greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere.
Linda Horianopoulos, a postdoctoral researcher who studies the metabolic diversity of yeasts in the Hittinger Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was born and raised in the small town of Kitimat, British Columbia. Read on to learn how an early interest in math and science led her to study at one of the top universities in Canada before eventually heading south for Madison.
In 2022, MSU professor Federica Brandizzi sent seeds fortified with amino acids aboard NASA’s Artemis I mission. Now, she and her team have planted those seeds to find ways to sustainably grow healthier plants for the future and, perhaps, even grow plants in space.
Floral timing has major implications for agricultural crops because flowering is a key stage in their reproductive process. Biochemical pathways that lead to flowering have been extensively studied in the model organism Arabidopsis a plant in the mustard family. But little research exists on how these pathways differ in grasses – a distinct, agriculturally important family of plants.
We often look to the smallest lifeforms for help solving the biggest problems: Microbes help make foods and beverages, cure diseases, treat waste, and even clean up pollution.
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison made an unexpected discovery while studying a close relative of the yeast commonly used to ferment beer. The yeast left half its genetic material behind while evolving in the lab.
Today we spoke with Daniel Parrell, a postdoctoral research associate in the Wright Lab working with cryo-electron microscopy and cryo-electron tomography. He received his undergraduate degree in microbiology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and his PhD in microbiology and molecular genetics at Michigan State University (MSU). He provides insight on his work and what it’s like to be a postdoctoral researcher.
The type of bioenergy crops we plant – as well as where and how we plant them – could have huge impacts on biodiversity. A new study finds some ‘next generation’ solutions aren’t much better than the first.
A discovery by GLBRC researchers could help turn a natural kill switch in plant cells into a “life switch” that helps crops better survive the challenges presented by climate change.
