Research Highlights

Researchers urge action on greenhouse gas emission goals

A team of U of M transportation and public policy researchers has discovered that if the state of Minnesota is to reach its Next Generation Energy Act goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent in 2015, then action must start now. more>>

Climate change and the Great Lakes

Summer temperatures like Kansas and winters like Wisconsin are just some of the changes possibly in store for Minnesota. These are a few of the topics climate change experts discussed during a recent Lake Superior conference. Read the article in the May 2008 issue of Seiche, a newsletter published by Minnesota Sea Grant.

Recording rain forest biodiversity

With help from local villagers, U of M botanist George Weiblen and his colleagues are racing to record the biodiversity of Papua New Guinea's rain forests before they disappear. Read the article in the July-August issue of Minnesota magazine.

Cell for ethanol production

Friederich Srienc's lab in the BioTechnology Institute has designed and constructed a minimal E. coli cell that converts sugars into ethanol with a high degree of efficiency. The new findings are published in the June issue of Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

"Dream team" wants Le Sueur River to come clean

Top researchers from across the nation are investigating why the Le Sueur River is so dirty. Collectively known as a "dream team," scientists from the U of M's St. Anthony Falls Lab and National Center for Earth-surface Dynamics, the Minnesota Geological Survey, and several other collaborators are involved. more>>