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Researcher Q&A: Getting to know our team
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Meet Yaoping Zhang
Yaoping Zhang of GLBRC's Conversion Research Area talks about his work, his family, and what he thinks aspiring scientists should know. Click the image below to view the presentation on the GLBRC website. |
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Biofuels Beat: An inside look at the latest GLBRC science
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Student Computer Game Simulates Biofuel Production
 | | Players plan their next moves in a demonstration of the biofuels farming computer game at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery. Photo by Celia Luterbacher, GLBRC. Licensed under Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. |
In most college classes, students are quizzed with questions and the professors already know the answer. But CS 699, a special topics course in Computer Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, turns that teaching method on its head: university scientists turn to students to help crack their toughest research questions.
"Folks come in with a problem - a species they know about or a bioenergy challenge," says Ben Shapiro, a scientist in the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery's (WID) Educational Research group and one of the course's instructors. "These are real problems. Students [in our class] have to pick a problem, and build models to shed light on it."
Shapiro co-teaches CS 699 with Michael Ferris, a professor of Computer Science, and Steve Wangen, a postdoc at WID and in the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology. In the spring of 2011, the class was inspired by research questions from Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) scientists to create the concept for a biofuel farming computer game. Since then, the instructors have worked with their students, WID researchers, and GLBRC staff to develop a game that can help tease apart the social, economic, and environmental factors involved in growing biofuel crops.
Read the full story at GLBRC.org
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Education and Outreach Update
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Bioenergy in the High School Classroom
In this slideshow, Waterford Union High School teacher Craig Kohn takes us through his hands-on laboratory activity that involves concepts from bioenergy, chemistry, biology, agriculture... and a little bit of scientific sleuthing. Armed with gloves, sandwich bags and test tubes, the class "bioprospects" for cellulose-degrading microbes that could be useful for GLBRC scientists interested in deconstructing plant biomass for conversion to biofuel. Kohn developed the lab based on his participation in the GLBRC's Bioenergy Institute for Educators and Research Experience for Teachers programs. An activity package for this lab is currently being developed for educators and will be made available through the GLBRC website. In the meantime, be sure to view a similar bioprospecting activity, as well as a variety of other offerings, on GLBRC's Education and Outreach page. For questions on this activity, please contact Education & Outreach Specialist Leith Nye at lnye@glbrc.wisc.edu.
 | | Bioenergy in the High School Classroom: Bioprospecting Lab |
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Ask An Expert: Answers to your bioenergy questions
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In this short video, GLBRC researcher and University of Wisconsin-Madison Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering Brian Pfleger explains the concept of "fixed" carbon dioxide.  | | What is "fixed" carbon dioxide? |
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Upcoming Events
DOE Twitter Chat with Brian Pfleger and John Greenler
On September 26th at 1:00pm Central, GLBRC researcher Brian Pfleger will participate in a Department of Energy #LabChat on Twitter. Dr. Pfleger will answer questions about bioenergy and biofuels from @GLBioenergy, and Education & Outreach Director John Greenler will moderate from @WI_bioenergy. Follow the conversation using the #LabChat hashtag!
Read more at Energy.gov
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Register online
The 2012 Energy Summit will address the full spectrum of energy challenges and opportunities facing our nation, and highlight UW-Madison innovation in energy research, education and outreach.
Keynote Speakers:
- William Banholzer, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, DOW
Chemical - Dr. Jeff Thompson, CEO, Gundersen Lutheran Health System
- Gregory Jaczko, former Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
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WEI Building Update
Opening in 2013, the Wisconsin Energy Institute building will solidify a UW-Madison energy research corridor.
View photos of the building's construction progress on Flickr!
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Find more upcoming events on our website.
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