University of Illinois Foundation, Rooms 102 and 103, 303 St Marys Rd, Champaign, IL 61820
Join us at the Illinois Biomass Innovation Hub Stakeholder Meeting, hosted by the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology and the College of Agricultural, Consumer & Environmental Sciences.
Why Attend?
This event is your chance to connect with key stakeholders in the biomass supply chain and explore groundbreaking opportunities for bioeconomic development in sectors such as energy, consumer packaged goods, food, feed, and biotechnology.
What Will You Discover?
- The BIH advantage: Learn how partnering with the Biomass Innovation Hub can get your organization the knowledge, materials, intellectual property, and workforce needed to profitably develop and scale up biomass-based products.
- What is the economic outlook for miscanthus? See side-by-side comparisons of miscanthus with other feedstocks for domestic bioproduct markets.
- How does miscanthus complement commodity crops? Get primary data on miscanthus integration into the Corn Belt from industry-leading growers, researchers, and service providers.
- What are the opportunities for industry growth? Learn about market sizes and growth trajectories in agriculture, consumer goods, and energy products.
Highlights:
- Exclusive Networking: Cultivate relationships with key industry leaders and innovators across sectors.
- Facility Tours: Visit North America’s premier miscanthus research facilities (see list in sidebar) to see everything from variety development to bioproduct prototyping with integrated assessment of Scope 3 emissions and life cycle assessment.
- Interactive Sessions: Participate in discussions and workshops designed to spark collaboration and innovation.
Don't Miss Out!
This is more than just a meeting—it's an opportunity to be at the forefront of biomass innovation and investment. Register today! Registration details are available in your original email invitation.
Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology
612 Conference Center
John Lovell, PhD
Research Faculty Investigator, HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology
Affiliate Scientist, DOE Joint Genome Institute
"Detecting and deploying adaptive variation in complex plant pan-genomes"
Illinois State Fairgrounds, 801 Sangamon Avenue, Springfield, IL
See the IGB Mobile Lab in action at the Illinois State Fair! We'll have fun science activities, ag-related games, pollen samples, a live observation beehive, and more. The popular TerraSentia robots will be back as well, don't miss us. We will be located in the Orr Building near the 4-H section.
Friday, Satuday, and Sunday
9:00am — 3:00pm
Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology
612 Conference Center
The Early Innovator Program (EIP) pitch contest will take place in IGB Room 612. The EIP is a summer entrepreneurship program for IGB-affiliated graduate students and post-docs. The six participants present their innovation proposals to a group of industry professionals and venture capitalists, who give feedback and evaluate the pitches. The top three winners receive proof of concept funding of up to $5,000. Members of the IGB community are welcome to attend the presentations.
Accommodations
For all IGB events, gender neutral bathrooms are available on floors 1 and 2 of the IGB gatehouse, open during the hours of 8am to12pm and 1pm to 5pm. A private lactation room for IGB-affiliated members is available by request, see the IGB reception desk for access. Baby changing stations are available in the restrooms on the concourse level. For specific needs, please contact facilities@igb.illinois.edu
Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology
612 Conference Center
Please join us for our blood drive!
To schedule your donation appointment contact khdarr@illinois.edu or visit Impact Life online.
IGB Concourse Level
Free donuts and coffee in Array Cafe while supplies last!
25 O'Clock, 208 W Griggs St Suite 101, Urbana, IL 61801
Buzz on over for a night of fun and facts at our Pollinator Trivia Night one of a series of events for National Pollinator Week! Join us at 25 O’Clock Brewing Company for four rounds of pollinator-themed trivia (10 questions each).
Come for the drinks and stay for the nerdy science trivia.
Teams of up to 6, free to play, prizes for the winners.
The Literary, 122 N Neil St, Champaign, IL 61820
May Berenbaum will be speaking as part of Pollinator Week. Come out to hear this talk and learn about how awesome pollinators are!
Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology
612 Conference Center
Learn about IGB research, hear about current issues in the life sciences, and connect with others at our popular poster session at the 2025 Fellows Symposium.
Held in-person on May 8, 2025 in the 612 Conference Center at IGB, the symposium is a great opportunity to network with campus researchers, hear from an exciting lineup of IGB speakers, and submit to the popular poster session for a chance to win one of three $500 travel vouchers. Lunch is provided, register for free at fellows.igb.illinois.edu.
special guest KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Nancy M. Bonini
Florence R.C. Murray Professor of Biology
Secondary Faculty, Cell & Developmental Biology and Neuroscience, Perelman School of Medicine
University of Pennsylvania
Nicholas Lee-Ping Chia
Computational Biologist
Argonne National Laboratory
Program
| 8:30 a.m. | Breakfast |
| 9:00 a.m. | Introduction - Gene Robinson |
| 9:15 a.m. | Mind in Vitro open hardware: From single-unit neural interfaces to robot-assisted mini-clusters Xiaotian Zhang, Multi-Cellular Engineered Living Systems |
| 9:45 a.m. | Advancing crop oil production through bioengineering Jia Dong, Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation |
| 10:15 a.m. | Raffle Drawing - Win a CMF Watch Pro 2 Smartwatch |
| 10:20 a.m. | Break |
| 10:30 a.m. | The effects of phthalates on reproductive aging Ramses Santacruz-Marquez, Environmental Impact on Reproductive Health |
| 11:00 a.m. |
Keynote Nicholas Lee-Ping Chia |
| 12:00 p.m. | Lunch |
| 1:00 p.m. | Raffle Drawing - Win a CMF Watch Pro 2 Smartwatch |
| 1:05 p.m. | Probing the patterns of glioblastoma-mediated microglia invasion using microengineered model Chia-Wen Chang, Regenerative Biology and Tissue Engineering |
| 1:30 p.m. | Genomes, lions, and colonialism: revealing the genetic traces of European colonialism in Africa’s wildlife Alida de Flamingh, Center for Indigenous Science |
| 2:00 p.m. | Evidence of parental care as a novel reproductive isolating mechanism in stickleback Colby Behrens, Gene Networks in Neural and Developmental Plasticity |
| 2:30 p.m. | Break |
| 2:45 p.m. |
Keynote Nancy M. Bonini |
| 3:45 p.m. | Concluding Remarks, Poster Results and Final Raffle Drawing - Win a CMF Watch Pro 2 Smartwatch |
| 4:00 p.m. | Poster Session and Reception - Open to All (Atrium, Main Lab Building) |
Poster submission
Submit a poster for the poster session for a chance to win one of three $500 travel vouchers!
Register
Register for free, lunch included, at fellows.igb.illinois.edu.
Accommodations
For all IGB events, gender neutral bathrooms are available on floors 1 and 2 of the IGB gatehouse, open during the hours of 8am to12pm and 1pm to 5pm. A private lactation room for IGB-affiliated members is available by request, see the IGB reception desk for access. Baby changing stations are available in the restrooms on the concourse level. For specific needs, please contact facilities@igb.illinois.edu
Heritage Room, Main Level ACES Library, 1101 S. Goodwin Ave
"Creating Art of Science"
Julia Pollack, Creative Program Manager
Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology
Accommodations
For all IGB events, gender neutral bathrooms are available on floors 1 and 2 of the IGB gatehouse, open during the hours of 8am to12pm and 1pm to 5pm. A private lactation room for IGB-affiliated members is available by request, see the IGB reception desk for access. Baby changing stations are available in the restrooms on the concourse level. For specific needs, please contact facilities@igb.illinois.edu