Join the Wisconsin Energy Institute for an exciting March Forward in Energy Forum: "Microbial Madness: Battle of the Biofuel Bugs." This forum will feature four dynamic scientists from the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, each passionately pitching why their chosen microbe is the most fascinating and crucial for producing biofuels and bioproducts that can help us move away from fossil fuel dependence.
In a fun twist inspired by March Madness, the microbes will compete in a friendly bracket-style competition, with two rounds of head-to-head battles and real-time audience voting to determine the ultimate champion. This event promises to be an entertaining and educational showcase of cutting-edge research, highlighting the vital role of microbes in creating renewable, sustainable fuels and products. Don't miss this opportunity to learn about the future of bioenergy and cheer on your favorite microbe!
Join us on Tuesday, March 18th at 4:30 p.m. CT in WEI Room 1115 or online via Zoom Webinar. Registration is required for online attendance.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison is a barrier free campus and is committed to providing equal opportunity for participation in all programs, services, and activities. If you need an accommodation for this event please let us know by emailing outreach@energy.wisc.edu or calling 608-890-0946. Requests made with less than 3 weeks’ notice will be honored when possible.
Microbes
Novosphingobium aromaticivorans (coached by Avery Vilbert)
- Eats oil spills for breakfast
- Good multitasker
- Natural microbial funnel
Streptomyces (coached by Caryn Wadler)
- Scrappy (eats conversion residue)
- Associated with wood-boring wasps
- Makes medicine, proteins, chemicals
Zymomonas mobilis (coached by Bailey Marshall)
- Fermentation champ
- High tolerance
- Doesn’t need oxygen (doesn’t mind it either)
- Tiny genome, very adaptable
Saccharomyces cerevisiae (coached by Morgan Davies)
- Aka brewer's yeast
- Can’t get enough sugar
- 5000 years of coaching
Moderator
Kevin Myers
Research Scientist, Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, UW–Madison
Kevin Myers is a bioinformatics scientist and the lead of the Computational Biology Group at the Wisconsin Energy Institute and the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Myers received an undergraduate degree in Biology from the University of Evansville in Evansville, IN. He obtained his PhD in microbiology studying anaerobic growth of the bacterium Escherichia coli at UW-Madison and performed post-doctoral research on engineering an evolved yeast for biofuel production at UW-Madison. As a computational and bioinformatic scientist, he and his team on the Computational Biology Group work with researchers to analyze large data sets, write scripts and pipelines to aid in reproducible analysis, and assist with any bioinformatic or computational biology need.
Panelists
Avery Vilbert - Representing Novosphingobium aromaticivorans
Scientist, Donohue Lab, UW–Madison
Bio to come.
Caryn Wadler - Representing Streptomyces
Scientist, Thomas Lab, UW–Madison
Caryn Wadler is a scientist for the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center and works in the Thomas Lab of the Department of Bacteriology at the University of Wisconsin- Madison. She is also an alumna of UW who has been researching soil bacteria for biofuel and bioproduct applications for almost 10 years. Her current bacteria of research, Streptomcyes, have won a special place in her heart by being the best smelling microbes that she's ever studied.
Bailey Marshall - Representing Zymomonas mobilis
Graduate Student, Landick Lab, UW–Madison
Bailey Marshall is a graduate student in Bob Landick’s lab engineering the fabulous bacterium Zymomonas mobilis. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Washington studying tuberculosis before working for two years engineering E. coli to produce pharmaceuticals. Now, she is earning her degree designing Zymomonas that turns waste into valuable products. When she isn’t in lab, she’s making pottery, playing pickleball, or petting her cat.
Morgan Davies - Representing Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Research Specialist, Sato Lab, UW–Madison
Morgan Davies is a Research Specialist in Trey Sato's lab working on engineering Saccharomyces cerevisiae to eat plants and turn them into biofuels. She started in the GLBRC as an intern after graduating from UW-Madison with a degree in Biochemistry and studying plant proteins. Outside of science, Morgan's passions include exploring Madison's food scene and watching movies with her cat, Merlin.
