Office of
Biological and Environmental Research Weekly Report
June 30,
2008
Bioenergy Center Director Authors Most Cited Articles in ACS Chemical Biology. Dr. Jay Keasling,
Director of DOE’s Joint BioEnergy
Institute (JBEI) and member of LBNL and UC Berkeley, had the first and fifth
most cited articles published in ACS
Chemical Biology in the first quarter of 2008. Keasling’s
review article, “Synthetic Biology for Synthetic Chemistry” in January 2008 was
the most cited and an article by Keasling and other
members of JBEI, “Addressing the Need for Alternative Transportation
Fuels: The Joint BioEnergy
Institute,” was the fifth most cited. The review article explains the potential
for synthetic biology (the design and construction of new biological components
and assembly into integrated systems) to aid biofuel
and drug production as well as biological remediation of contaminants. The article on JBEI describes the goals of
the DOE Bioenergy Research Center
and explains the research thrusts on feedstocks, deconstruction,
synthesis of next generation fuels, and technology development.
Media interest: No
Contact: John Houghton, SC-23.2, (301) 903-8288
Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center Scientists Featured in Congressional Briefing. On June 11, the Ecological Society of America
hosted House and Senate briefings on “The Sustainability of Cellulosic Biofuels”. Speakers
included Dr. Phil Robertson, Michigan State University (MSU) and Sustainability
Thrust Lead for the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research
Center (GLBRC), Dr. Doug Landis, MSU and the GLBRC, and Dr. Madhu
Khanna, University
of Illinois, who conducts
research with the BP Energy Biosciences Institute. They described the
superiority, measured by energy return, of cellulosic biofuels
as compared with grain-based sources, such as corn.
Dr.
Robertson, the chief scientist for an OBER/USDA Sustainability Workshop planned
for October 2008, described other advantages of cellulosic crops, including its
ability to grow on land not suitable for food crops, its potential to mitigate
carbon dioxide emissions, and its benefits for clean water and air. Dr. Landis spoke about the environmental
value of maintaining high levels of biodiversity through the use of cellulosic
crops, and Dr. Khanna spoke about the need to align
energy policy and climate policy to properly guide cellulosic biofuel production.
A summary handout including links to the presentations is available at http://www.esa.org/pao/policyActivities/briefing062008.php.
Media interest: No
Contact: John Houghton, SC-23.2, (301) 903-8288
Nuclear Medicine Researcher to Receive Priestley
Medal. Frederick Hawthorne of
the University of Missouri, Columbia,
will receive the 2009 Priestley Medal from the American Chemical Society (ACS)
for his contributions to inorganic chemistry. Hawthorne is considered a pioneer in
understanding the chemistry of boron. He has developed the use of boron
compounds in many fields, notably medical imaging and other medical
applications. His research at the University
of California, Los Angeles, was for many years supported by
the Office of Science. He currently heads the International Institute of Nano and Molecular Medicine at the University of Missouri.
The Priestley Medal is given “for distinguished service to the field of
chemistry” and is the highest honor awarded by the ACS. It will be presented to
Hawthorne at the Society’s National Meeting in Salt Lake City in March
2009.
Media Interest: No
Contact: Roland F. Hirsch, SC-23.2, (301) 903-9009
PNNL Aircraft Facility
Receives “Gold Standard” Recognition. The
federal Interagency Committee for Aviation Policy (ICAP) has awarded its
highest Gold Standard Certificate to the DOE Richland Operations office for
excellent safety and operations management of the Office of Science (SC)-supported
Research Aircraft Facility at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). The award was issued on the basis of
supporting documentation provided by the DOE Office of Aviation Management,
MA-30, as to how this facility actively supports the ICAP Safety Standards
Agreement and meets or exceeds the requirements of Federal Management
Regulations Part 102-33 pertaining to the management of Government aircraft. This award is primarily due to the
outstanding work of the facility chief pilot, Robert Hannigan,
over three decades of support to SC research aviation activities at PNNL.
Media
Interest:
No
Contacts: Ashley Williamson,
SC-23.1, (301) 903-3120, Rick Petty, SC-23.1, (301) 903-5548