As a microbiologist, Trey Sato occasionally witnesses a genetic interaction, a rare phenomenon that occurs when the combination of two traits results in an impact greater than the sum of its individual parts. 

He sees a parallel in his career.  

Samuel Chagas is a postdoctoral researcher in Rebecca Smith’s lab, where he studies the composition of plant cell walls in sorghum and corn to develop crops that are easier to digest, whether for biofuel or animal feed.

Sarada Sripada is a postdoctoral researcher working in the Sener lab. She studies reductive catalytic fractionation (RCF) with the goal of deconstructing lignin, the woody part of plant cells, into smaller molecules that microbes can convert into valuable products such as PDC, a chemical that can be used to make bioplastics.

Three WEI faculty members have been honored by UW–Madison for outstanding scholarship and service.

Whether you’re planning a weekend hike, deciding what to wear to work or preparing your home for severe storms, the weather forecast is essential. You might instinctively grab your smartphone and check an app for an instant weather update.

Rebecca Smith uses genetic tools to develop plants that can be digested more easily. The outcomes could be greater efficiency for biofuel production and lower methane emissions from dairy cows.

Growing demand for energy — particularly from clean, low-cost sources like solar — are putting pressure on farmland. The Interdisciplinary Professions Program in the College of Engineering interviewed WEI education manager and sustainable systems engineering instructor Scott Williams about one potential solution: agrivoltaics.