If successful at an industrial scale, the technology could help replace toxic petrochemicals such as BPA while also generating new revenue streams to make cellulosic biofuel as cheap as fossil fuels. 

Wisconsin Energy Institute affiliate Vatsan Raman, associate professor in the Department of Biochemistry, is among thirteen faculty to be honored with the H.I.

Lignocellulosic biomass, the woody parts of plants, is made of two types of sugars bound together by lignin. Lignin contains ring-shaped compounds known as aromatics that can be a source of valuable products traditionally derived from fossil fuels, but it's hard to pull these individual chemicals out of the mix. Some bacteria can convert plant-based aromatics into chemicals used to make plastics, but there are challenges to getting high yields.

Dubbed a self-driving laboratory, the system uses a computer algorithm to identify the relationship between protein sequence and function and suggest changes likely to improve certain functions. The computer then sends the protein sequences to a robotic lab that tests them and provides feedback from experimental data to help the agent improve its “understanding” of the system and guide future rounds of experiments. 

From early childhood, Harrison Moon was fascinated by the natural world, and this fascination eventually steered him towards a career in plant pathology. Currently, he is a postdoctoral researcher in the Hittinger Lab at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. 

Using machine learning, UW–Madison scientists have identified more than 30 million acres of U.S. farmland abandoned between 1986 and 2018, creating a field-level map of lands that could be used to mitigate climate change.

The award, established in 2019, honors those who demonstrate a spirit of generosity in sharing science with the public. Winners may coordinate outreach programming, dedicate time to support services, or share expertise with public audiences.