CABBI Research

Sustainability: Environmental & Economic Bottom Line

Using a data-driven and integrated modeling framework, CABBI Sustainability Theme researchers will develop the predictive capability to determine which feedstock combinations, regions and land types, market conditions, and bioproducts have the potential to support the ecologically and economically sustainable displacement of fossil fuels. Key areas of emphasis will be to obtain a mechanistic understanding of the plant, soil, microbe, and climate interactions that underlie the productivity and ecosystem services of different feedstocks, and on investigating the technological and economic pathways to a sustainable and resilient bioeconomy. The Sustainability Theme will provide CABBI’s environmental and economic lens, closing the loop on an integrated research program.

STRAIGHT FROM THE SCIENTISTS: Research Profiles Offer Insight into CABBI Work

Read Co-PI Adina Howe’s research profile by Jenna Kurtzweil >>>

Read Postdoc Adam von Haden’s research profile by Jordan Goebig >>>

Read Ph.D. Candidate Kelsie Ferin’s research profile by Jenna Kurtzweil >>>

Read M.S. Candidate August Schetter’s research profile by Jordan Goebig >>>

Read Theme Leader Madhu Khanna’s research profile by Emily Scott >>>

Read M.S. Candidate Yoel Cortes-Peña’s research profile by Jenna Kurtzweil >>>

Read Postdoc Caitlin Moore’s research profile by Emily Scott >>>

Madhu Khanna: Theme Leader

Khanna, the ACES Distinguished Professor of Environmental Economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is also Associate Director for Research at the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment. She has has more than 20 years of experience directing interdisciplinary projects funded by federal agencies and corporations. Her research examines motivations for producers to adopt innovative production technologies, grow biofuel crops, and to participate in conservation programs. Her work informs stakeholders and policy makers about the cost-effectiveness of various approaches to improve environmental quality. Khanna received her Ph.D. in Agricultural and Resource Economics in 1995 from the University of California at Berkeley.

Her Agricultural and Consumer Economics page >>>

Her CABBI research profile >>>

Andy VanLoocke: Deputy Theme Leader

VanLoocke, an Assistant Professor of Agronomy at Iowa State University , is an expert in agricultural meteorology. He researches how humans’ use of land might impact agro-ecosystem processes in tandem with global change. He aims to develop and refine estimates of the impacts of ongoing and future land use change and global change on agro-ecosystem processes and services with a combination of field-based measurements and agro-ecosystem models. VanLoocke received his Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science in 2012 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

His Agronomy page >>>

His lab page >>>

Wendy Yang: Deputy Theme Leader

Yang, an Assistant Professor of Plant Biology and Geology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is also on the Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology faculty. She researches human influence on natural and managed ecosystems and how ecosystem responses to global change can affect future changes. She studies controls on greenhouse gas emissions, soil nitrogen and carbon dynamics, and the coupling of biogeochemical cycles beyond carbon and nitrogen. Yang got her Ph.D. in 2010 in Environmental Science, Policy & Management from the University of California at Berkeley.