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Federica Brandizzi
Sustainable cropping systems

Federica Brandizzi named MSU Innovator of the Year

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.

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| Allison Zahorec

Acclaimed biologist E.O. Wilson dubbed invertebrates as “the little things that run the world.” More than 95% of all animal species are invertebrates, with species adapted to thrive in the driest of deserts to the ocean depths. Despite their hidden lifestyle, they can have potentially large impacts on key ecosystem processes important for reducing further climate warming.

| Laura Schultz

Four Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center researchers have been named to Clarivate Analytics’ 2019 list of “Highly Cited Researchers.” Those named include James Dumesic, UW–Madison professor of chemical and biological engineering; John Ralph, UW–Madison professor of biochemistry; G.

| MSU Today

We might not notice them, but the crops farmers grow are protected by scores of tiny invertebrate bodyguards. Naturally occurring arthropods like spiders and lady beetles patrol crop fields looking for insects to eat. These natural enemies keep pests under control, making it easier to grow the crops we depend on.

| Eric Hamilton

Thousands of years ago, as humans tamed wild animals and plants into livestock and crops, their penchant for intoxication also led them to unwittingly domesticate a hidden workhorse of civilization: yeast.

| Allison Zahorec
When one envisions a typical midwestern farm, ‘biodiversity’ is hardly the first thing that comes to mind. Compared to more natural landscapes, agricultural lands can seem like ecological dead zones. Yet even the most intensively managed corn monocultures are teeming with life belowground. A few teaspoons of soil can contain over a billion individual organisms (largely microbes), and the diversity of soil-dwelling organisms is just as impressive.
| Alex Holloway

The microbiome offers nearly limitless potential for research in areas from wastewater treatment to pharmaceutical drug production. University of Wisconsin-Madison engineers have published a paper encouraging colleagues to adopt common engineering methods to further microbiome research and development.

| Mark E. Griffin

Stems, leaves, flowers, and fruits make up the biggest chunk of potential living space for microbes in the environment, but ecologists still don’t know a lot about how the microorganisms that reside there establish and maintain themselves over the course of a growing season.

| GLBRC staff
Inspired by bacteria’s role in natural plant decay, researchers at the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center and Michigan State University have mimicked a bacterial pathway to break down the toughest parts of a plant in preparation for biofuel processing.
| Kaine Korzekwa and Brian Mattmiller

The University of Wisconsin-Madison effort to launch a shared cryo-electron microscopy facility for the bioscience community is gathering momentum, with two new faculty hires and key technology investments this summer.

| Jill Sakai

Prolific biofuels researcher James Dumesic has been named the winner of the 2019 Eni Energy Transition Award.

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