News Archive

2009-10 Distinguished Speaker Series

The 2009-10 I-CARES Distinguished Speaker Series will commence October 30 with Jay Keasling, Professor of Bioengineering and Chemical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. He will discuss his research, for which he received the 2009 Biotech Humanitarian Award, in a lecture titled, Synthetic Biology for Synthetic Chemistry: From Bugs to Drugs and Fuels.

More information about the seminar

Energy Workshop

To identify new areas for fundamental research leading to energy-related technologies that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, I-CARES, in collaboration with the Global Climate and Energy Project (GCEP) at Stanford University, hosted a two-day workshop on Biological Capture and Utilization of CO2, on September 1 and 2. Chancellor Mark Wrighton, Sally Benson, Director of GCEP at Stanford and Himadri Pakrasi, Director of I-CARES, with workshop speakers and participants.

Technical experts on photosynthetic organisms and fossil fuel combustion assembled to discuss opportunities for research aimed at understanding the potential of non-terrestrial biomass to capture carbon from fossil fuel sources. The coupling of fossil fuel emissions to the production of biofuels or high value products was discussed in order to identify high-risk, high reward fundamental research topics in this area that may lead to game-changing technologies.

Workshop Presentations

I-CARES Distinguished Speaker

As part of the 2008-2009, I-CARES Distinguished Speaker Series, Dr. Russell Schnell, the Deputy Director of the Earth Systems Research Laboratory at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, spoke about responses to Global Climate Change in a seminar entitled: Global Climate Change, Resistance or Adaptation?

I-CARES Research

Professor Jan Amend, associate professor of earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University, examines microbial geochemistry of hydrothermal systems. His work in places such as the Aeolian Islands, north of Sicily, Italy, (pictured above) and in Papa New Guinea includes the study of shallow hydrothermal coastal systems and bioenergy production.

Gallery Exhibit

Golgi Structure, 1967, Fumihiko Maki. (Courtesy of Maki and Associates)) This and other projects in the Kemper Art Museum exhibit, Metabolic City, address the challenges of rebuilding urban centers, focusing on themes such as adaptable habitats and networks. The exhibit opens September 18 at the Kemper Art Museum, College of Arts Gallery.

http://www.art.wustl.edu/MetabolicCity

I-CARES/EECE Facility

Construction continues on the Stephen F. & Camilla T. Brauer Hall. On track to open in 2010, the new 150,000-square-foot laboratory, offices and teaching facility, will serve as the home for the School of Engineering's Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering (EECE), and for I-CARES labs, including the new Photosynthetic Antenna Research Center (PARC).

http://www.engineering.wustl.edu/brauerhall.aspx