GLBRC Outreach and Service Awards

The Outreach and Service Awards are given annually to members of the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) who have made significant contributions to the Center’s outreach and service mission.

The award recognizes GLBRC members who have demonstrated a spirit of generosity in sharing science with the public. Such efforts may include participating in or coordinating outreach programming, dedicating time in support of service activities, or sharing expertise with public audiences during their time in the GLBRC. Generous support for this award is provided by GLBRC’s industry partners.

Picture of researchers in laboratory Ben Hall (left) and Daniel Parrell Chelsea Mamott

The winners of the 2023 award are Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center researchers Ben Hall and Daniel Parrell.  

Hall, a fifth-year Ph.D. student in the Donohue lab at UW–Madison, works on and off campus to expose undergraduates and high school students to science, technology, engineering, and math (or STEM). For the past three years, Hall has served as a coach for the Madison West High School Science Olympiad team. Science Olympiad is a national organization where teams of middle and high school students learn about science through written and lab-based competitions. Through his coaching, Hall sharpens his teaching skills, applying what he learned in professional development workshops to prepare weekly lesson plans and activities around cell biology.

Hall is also an instructor for a summer undergraduate course introducing incoming freshmen to biology and the resources to succeed in STEM classes and helps with Science Expeditions, where he leads hands-on activities to engage children and their families with science. 

As co-director of the UW-Biocore’s Wisconsin Heights Summer Science Camp, Parrell enjoys helping students find their science “spark.” Parrell has been involved with the week-long program since he was a camper and transitioned to a student teacher after he joined the Biocore program as an undergraduate at UW–Madison. He made it a priority to come back to Madison and help with the genetics unit of the camp even in graduate school at Michigan State University, understanding the impact programs like these have on students' interest in science and research. 

Parrell, a post-doctoral researcher in the Wright lab at UW–Madison, has also talked with policymakers about the importance of bioenergy research. He led a tour of the Cryo-Electron Microscopy Research Center at UW–Madison to Wisconsin Congressional representatives, showcasing how federal grants are furthering scientific innovation.

Past Recipients

2022: Kevin Myers, a scientist in the Donohue and Noguera labs at UW–Madison, and Pavani Tumbalam, lab manager in Kurt Thelen’s lab at Michigan State University. Read about Kevin and Pavani's contributions here»

2019: François Alberge
François was a postdoctoral fellow in the Tim Donohue's lab at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Read about what brought him to Madison and his work on photosynthetic bacteria that produce lipids that can be turned into biofuels in our profile of François here »