Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC)

Creating economically and environmentally sustainable biofuels and bioproducts from plants

[Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) @GLBioenergy]

Big news! We are so excited to announce that @ENERGY has awarded #GLBRC and our partner BRCs 5 more years of funding to continue our mission of developing sustainable alternatives to fuels and products currently made from petroleum.

Learn more: https://t.co/1SumQc3J1X

[Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) @GLBioenergy]

DOE Under Secretary for Science Darío Gil visited UW–Madison and learned about Proteus, GLBRC’s AI-enabled autonomous lab.

The technology helps accelerate research on sustainable biofuels and biobased products.

https://t.co/R3OC5QKUZr

[Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) @GLBioenergy]

GLBRC scientist Bruno Basso of MSU has been selected to receive the 2026 Carl Sprengel Agronomic Research Award for his contributions to sustainable agriculture and crop productivity.

Read more: https://t.co/jyg5wqh2BU

[Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) @GLBioenergy]

Bailey Marshall, a PhD candidate in cellular and molecular biology at UW–Madison, studies genetic engineering of bacteria for better biofuel production.

Read more: https://t.co/XuOabBT556

[Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) @GLBioenergy]

A new GLBRC study found that many biomass-derived toxins move through microbial cell membranes too quickly for microbes to pump them out efficiently.

Read more: https://t.co/KjzD5twJt0

[Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) @GLBioenergy]

A new GLBRC study used NMR methods known as FLOPSY and TOCSY to reveal hidden molecules in plant fibers.

The work could help researchers better understand lignin and its potential as a source of fuels, plastics, medicines, and other products.

Read more: https://t.co/b93LiHUM2L

[Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) @GLBioenergy]

A new GLBRC study uses modeling to compare ways biorefineries can use energy-rich byproducts from biofuel production, including biomethane, electricity, lignin conversion, and carbon capture.

Read more: https://t.co/CT8nEMFOAF

[Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) @GLBioenergy]

Poisonous plants hold keys to potent medicines.

A new GLBRC study identifies early steps in how larkspur and wolfsbane produce complex plant compounds with uses in medicine and pest control.

Read more: https://t.co/TZWPSHfshU

[Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) @GLBioenergy]

Trine Anderson and Brandon Kristy have received the 2026 GLBRC Mentorship Award for supporting students through hands-on research, confidence building, and scientific mentorship.

Read more: https://t.co/mWATXQ6JVO

[UW Energy Institute @UWEnergy]

WEI co-investigator Troy Runge has been named interim dean of the UW-Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

Runge is an associate dean and professor of biological systems engineering.

Read more: https://t.co/jkYfAIoKIX

[Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) @GLBioenergy]

Trey Sato has received the 2026 GLBRC Service and Impact Award for nearly two decades of collaborative leadership, research support, and mentorship across the center.

Read more: https://t.co/VXyLmi2XDi

[Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) @GLBioenergy]

Where can a GLBRC postdoc experience lead?

New alumni profiles follow Caro Córdova, Brian Burger, and Ilya Gelfand across careers in soil health, animal genetics, biogeochemistry, and ecosystem ecology.

Read more: https://t.co/8YfqqJKRyk

[Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) @GLBioenergy]

Dae Kwan Ko of MSU has received the 2026 Yaoping Zhang Bioenergy Research Award for his research on plant stress resilience and bioenergy crop improvement.

Read more: https://t.co/sXfjqZYKDo

[Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) @GLBioenergy]

Poulamee Chakraborty of MSU has received the 2026 Jennifer L. Reed Bioenergy Science Award for her research on soil structure and sustainable bioenergy cropping systems.

Read more: https://t.co/SgBwyv70gk

[Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) @GLBioenergy]

Wood density is an often underexplored factor in biomass crops, yet increasing it could improve biomass crops' economics without affecting productivity or composition.

Read more: https://t.co/lckhFbTNUE

[Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) @GLBioenergy]

Study identifies enzymes that could improve isobutanol production in Saccharomyces cerevisiae whilst reducing unwanted ethanol production.

Read more: https://t.co/nrNqbKMS9M

[Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) @GLBioenergy]

New Research Intern position open at the Experimental Fermentation Lab!

Under the mentorship of Kyle Probst, this role will be responsible for managing biomass pretreatment protocols and executing microbial fermentation assays.

More info: https://t.co/d9OW46h803

#intern#job

[Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) @GLBioenergy]

Multitasking microbes makes for smarter biofuels.

Scientists at the GLBRC engineered bacteria that make two products at once from plant waste, cutting costs & emissions.

This is a big step toward scalable, sustainable biorefineries. Read more: https://t.co/O9MqeyXVP3

[Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) @GLBioenergy]

Sometimes innovation is simple: just add water

Building on previous work using RCF to deconstruct poplar, GLBRC researchers found that diluting solvents can improve efficiency in turning plants into bioproducts, lowering prices by 24%. Read more: https://t.co/Xgf3xyJ5BS

[Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) @GLBioenergy]

Brandon Kristy, a GLBRC researcher from MSU, has been selected for a DOE graduate student research program at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory!

Read more about Kristy and his research: https://t.co/0uJdJyb2V2

[MSU Plant Resilience Institute @MSU_PRI]

The Topp lab at MSU is recruiting multiple postdoctoral researchers across complementary areas of root biology, phenomics, and translational crop science! Learn more about the postdoc opportunities and apply now: https://t.co/OKRqjy6n47 #PlantScience #PlantSciJobs