News
Sustainable Bioenergy Cropping Systems
Study: Bioenergy crops help farmers restore healthy soil
Management techniques that boost organic carbon and nitrogen will help farmers deal with production and environmental challenges that come with greater climate variability and mitigate climate change by storing more carbon in soil. Yet there have been few long term studies comparing how different land management and crop systems affect organic matter.
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.
Undergraduate students in the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center’s summer program gained valuable experience in world-class labs.
Binod Basyal is a post-doctoral Research Associate at the Department of Energy Plant Research Lab within the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center at Michigan State University. He tells us about his research, his background and the importance of optimism in solving complex problems.
GLBRC hosted fourteen Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Program students this summer. We asked some of the participants about their motivations for participating in the GLBRC REU program, the best parts of their summer, and what advice they have for future REU participants.
Today we spoke with Blaise Manga Enuh, a postdoc in the Noguera Lab studying microbial genomics and systems biology. He got his Ph.D in biotechnology and biosafety at Eskisehir Osmangazi Üniversitesi in Turkey. He provides insight on the importance of his research, the role it plays in achieving the goals of the GLBRC, and what inspires his work.
The nation’s top energy official visited the University of Wisconsin–Madison Friday to see how scientists at the federally-funded Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center are working to turn plants into sustainable and economical replacements for fossil fuels and petrochemicals.
