Media coverage of WEI this month focused on the role of microbes in biofuel production, fires in the Amazon rainforest, and the emerging clean energy marketplace.

James Tinjum has high expectations for the College of Engineering’s Geological Engineering Program. Tinjum, an associate professor with a background in geological engineering, has been named the program’s new director. Geological Engineering is housed in the college’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

The microbiome offers nearly limitless potential for research in areas from wastewater treatment to pharmaceutical drug production.

The University of Wisconsin–Madison’s first broad sustainability assessment has earned the campus a silver rating for its efforts in resource stewardship, education and research.

We rely on a stable national electric grid to keep power flowing reliably in homes, businesses and factories across the country. But a sudden change in supply or demand—such as from a lightning strike, malfunctioning power plant or heat wave—can disrupt normal patterns of power flow.

Researchers in the University of Wisconsin–Madison Department of Biochemistry and Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) will utilize a $2.1 million grant from the United States Department of Energy to elucidate the properties of a potentially useful and understudied class of genes and enzymes in important bioenergy crops, such as poplar, sorghum, and switchgrass. The project is led by professors Brian Fox and John Ralph.

Media coverage of WEI this month focused on energy efficient electronics, current water management practices in Dane County, and the history of solar power and its corresponding future in our energy portfolio.