Workshop Purpose and Outcomes
The growth of algae in mass culture for bioproducts, whole food and supplements, and biofuels has enormous potential, but the great diversity of algae and our lack of understanding of algal biology, biochemistry, and pond ecology creates a considerable challenge.
Challenges and Opportunities
In the past ten years, research efforts by the Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and other Federal Agencies have led to significant progress in algal genome sequencing, genetic engineering, and biological understanding.To support continuing growth of the state of the science and the industry, understanding and application of genomes, ecosystem dynamics of applied and natural systems, and synthetic biology toolkits must expand to more genera and strains.
Workshop Purpose
The DOE Bioenergy Technologies Office and National Science Foundation are sponsoring the workshop, Understanding the Rules of Life: Complexity in Algal Systems, to bring together researchers across academia, industry, and national laboratories to outline the challenges in understanding algal biology and ecology and to identify strategies in research to further algae engineering and cultivation efforts. This workshop will bring together speakers from both basic and applied research backgrounds. There will be talks from leaders in algal biology, microbiome ecology, and genetic toolkit development; and breakout sessions focusing on identifying opportunities, challenges, and specific research strategies moving forward.
Desired workshop outcomes
This BETO & NSF workshop will provide the opportunity for experts across algal research fields to define challenges and identify research goals, leading to a strategy in moving both algae production for fuels and products and the understanding of algal biology and ecology forward for a myriad of applications. This workshop will contribute to a new path forward for algal synthetic biology and tool development, for fundamental studies of scientifically important and commercially viable algal species, and for understanding and using algae cultivation ecology for public benefit.
Further, the workshop will also aid in developing new collaborations which will allow the algal community of researchers to focus on the most pressing and important unsolved problems for microalgae. As part of effort, individuals are invited to apply for travel grants for the purposes of increasing the representativeness of diversity in the scientific community. The proceedings of the workshop will be made available in a publicly available report.
Agenda
The workshop is one day and entirely virtual.
Workshop Description
The morning of the workshop begins at 10:45 AM ET with a brief period of networking while attendees log in, followed by opening remarks and a synopsis of the Virtual Summer Symposia. Attendees will participate in the Challenges and Barriers breakout discussion session in either the Ecosystem and Microbiome Dynamics track or the Algae Strain Development and Toolkits track. Over a working lunch, attendees will hear synopses from the first breakouts and presentations from NSF and BETO. Attendees will then brainstorm in the second breakout strategies to help the community overcome the challenges and barriers identified in the morning. The day concludes at 5 PM ET after a report out of the Strategies and Paths Forward breakout.
Track Descriptions
Track A: Ecosystem and Microbiome Dynamics
Understanding the complexity and dynamics of a microbial community is essential to answer many basic and applied research questions such as: How do carbon cycles fluctuate in aquatic algae ecosystems? How can a community be controlled to reduce crop loss and enhance algal biofuels production? This track will focus on identifying the key challenges and strategies to overcome the barriers that impede advancement of our knowledge on the fundamental rules of life governing the structure, dynamics, and resilience of microbial communities and that hinder our ability to control and/or engineer microbial communities for desired outcomes such as improved product production in algal ponds.Track B: Algae Strain Development and Toolkits
Fundamental knowledge of the dynamics and control of algal metabolism and the development of molecular biology toolkits for important algal species are essential for the exploration of basic and applied research questions such as: What are the rate limiting processes that control the growth rate of an algal species? How do algal species prepare for changing environmental conditions? It is also essential for the engineering and development of algal strains to produce biobased products in an economical and sustainable way at scale. This track will identify the key challenges and strategies to overcome the barriers associated with algal strain development that impede our advancement of understanding and of toolkits in both basic and applied knowledge of algal systems.
Workshop Webinar Information and Track Assignments
The workshop will be entirely virtual and will use the ZoomGov webinar platform (for plenary sessions) and GroupMap online facilitation software. During the breakout introduction session we will introduce attendees to the facilitation software. The webinar information and breakout session track assignments will be emailed to registrants prior to the workshop (registrants will have an opportunity to switch tracks if needed).
Organizing Committee Members
Amanda Barry
R&D Manager of the Molecular and Microbiology Department at Sandia National Labs
Dr. Barry is the R&D Manager of the Molecular and Microbiology Department at Sandia National Labs. Previously, she was a biochemist and molecular biologist at LANL. She leads the DOE Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO)-funded project Leveraging Algae Traits for Fuels (LEAF) focused on the investigation of the mechanisms and dynamics of mixotrophic growth of potential biofuel-production algae strains on plant substrates. From 2015-2017, Dr, Barry supported the Advanced Algae Systems (AAS) Program within DOE BETO, authoring the National Algal Biofuels Technology Review and assisting with the management of projects within the AAS portfolio. In addition to her research, Dr. Barry previously served as the LANL Algae Platform Lead and as the Technical Lead for the Verification of algae-focused DOE BETO-funded projects.
Michael Betenbaugh
Professor - Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering,
Johns Hopkins University
Michael Betenbaugh, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and lead PI of the Advanced Mammalian Biomanufacturing Innovation Center (AMBIC), is known for integrating systems biology with cellular, metabolic, and biochemical engineering for eukaryotic biotechnology applications. Betenbaugh is one of the original pioneers of eukaryotic metabolic engineering and has made multiple landmark contributions in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of mammalian and insect production hosts, in fundamental discoveries in glycobiology, in applying systems biology to understand mammalian cells in biotechnology and biomedicine, and in advancing knowledge about sustainable algal bioprocessing for biofuels and other products. In the area of sustainable microalgae processing, Dr. Betenbaugh has screened multiple microalgae strains to improve biofuel production and also studied nutrient exchange in synthetic lichens or microbiome communities
Christie Peebles
Associate Professor, Chemical and Biological Engineering,
Colorado State University
Dr.Peebles is an Associate Professor in Chemical and Biological Engineering Department at Colorado State University. Dr. Peebles holds a PhD from Rice University in bioengineering and was a postdoctoral scholar in Greg Stephanopoulos’ lab at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Peebles laboratory focuses on addressing the fundamental challenges that arise when engineering photoautotrophic organisms for the production of fuels and chemicals. To address these challenges, her lab utilizes a broad range of techniques from the fields of metabolic engineering, synthetic biology, and systems biology. Recent results from her lab on metabolic engineering of cyanobacteria have been published in The Plant Journal, Algal Research, Journal of Biotechnology, and Biotechnology Progress.
Mike Guarnieri
Scientist,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Dr. Guarnieri is a molecular biologist at NREL, where he leads a series of BETO-funded synthetic biology and bioengineering initiatives, including the Algae Biotechnology Partnership, focused on the development of genetic tools, synthetic regulatory systems, and functional genomic pipelines in top-candidate deployment algal strains. Additionally, Dr. Guarnieri serves as the NREL PI on a DOE Office of Science initiative targeting the development of synthetic phototroph-heterotroph co-culture systems. Dr. Guarnieri earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, where his research focused on structural and biophysical characterization of bacterial two-component signaling systems. Prior to his graduate studies, Dr. Guarnieri conducted undergraduate research at Brown University, examining viral secretion and virus-host interactions.
Devinn Lambert
Technology Manager,
U.S Department of Energy, Bioenergy Technologies Office
Devinn Lambert is a Technology Manager for the Advanced Algal Systems program in the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) at the U.S. Department of Energy. She is also Co-Chair of the Algae Interagency Working Group for the Biomass R&D Board. Devinn has detailed at the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, served as an agency liaison to the National Academies of Sciences Committee on Developing a Research Agenda for Utilization of Gaseous Carbon Waste Streams, and led a scientific workforce development project for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Prior to BETO, she studied at the Watson School for Biological Sciences at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory as an NSF Graduate Research Fellow. Devinn is also the recipient of the prestigious, international award, the Gates Cambridge Scholarship, which she used to conduct algae biofuels research and pursue a Masters degree at the University of Cambridge.
Contact Us
Please direct any and all questions to the Workshop Organizing Committee
