Heaton’s role at CABBI pulls together her interests in not only developing productive bioenergy crops but assessing their impact on the environment, the economy, and agriculture — a passion cultivated on her family farm near Monticello, Ill.

Two new CABBI studies indicate the need to adopt more targeted policies that value the environmental benefits of perennial bioenergy crops over cheaper options — and provide incentives for farmers to grow them.

RISE is designed to provide research and career development opportunities to undergraduates from groups currently underrepresented in STEM fields.

With the addition of Voytas, a pioneer in plant gene-editing and genomics, the University of Minnesota becomes CABBI’s 23rd partner institution.