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.

Wisconsin Energy Institute investigator John Ralph has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest honors a scientist can receive, in recognition of his research accomplishments.

Researchers tested a bioreactor system to process aromatics from poplar trees with a modified strain of Novosphingobium aromaticivorans that releases a chemical known as PDC while accumulating two other products inside the cells: a natural pigment and a vitamin-like substance found in most human cells. PDC can be used to make plastics, while the other products are used in nutritional supplements, cosmetics, and animal feed.