Ostendorf will assume leadership of the UW鈥檚 premier and growing research enterprise from , who has served for 15 years as Vice Provost for Research. Lidstrom will step down from the role Aug. 31 and return to the faculty to focus on her research in chemical engineering and microbiology.

Over the past 16 years, the University鈥檚 research portfolio has grown from $996 million to an astounding $1.63 billion in 2020. Since 2010, the 91探花has received more externally sponsored research funding than any other U.S. public university. Recent global rankings that emphasize research place the 91探花in the range of sixth聽to 16th聽in the world.

鈥淏ecause the Office of Research partners with leaders and units across the university, Dr. Ostendorf鈥檚 demonstrated vision and collaborative leadership will be critical to advancing our interdisciplinary research efforts, as well as our ongoing diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives,鈥� Richards said.

Collaborative research has grown, with 27% of 91探花research funding involving partnerships with other entities.聽The Office of Research has evolved and grown as well, with additional units and programs and a host of initiatives focused on serving the research community.

鈥淚 look forward to supporting the Provost’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, recognizing that diverse perspectives foster innovation, and to helping build partnerships that strengthen the 91探花ecosystem for interdisciplinary research,鈥� Ostendorf said.

In addition to holding an endowed professorship of system design methodologies in the College of Engineering鈥檚 electrical and computer engineering department, Ostendorf is an adjunct professor of computer science and engineering, and of linguistics. She also has served as associate dean for research and graduate studies in the College of Engineering and as associate chair for research in electrical engineering.

A prominent researcher in the areas of speech and language technology, Ostendorf鈥檚 current research focuses on conversational artificial intelligence, exploring dynamic and context-aware models for understanding and generating speech and text, particularly in multi-party contexts. This work contributes to a variety of applications, from education to clinical and scientific information extraction, and has been used in automatic analysis of human-to-human call center conversations, automatic extraction of information from clinical notes, and natural language processing to support development of more accurate STEM assessments.

Ostendorf earned her doctoral, master鈥檚 and bachelor鈥檚 degrees in electrical engineering from Stanford University, joining the 91探花in 1999 after several years as an electrical and computer engineering faculty member at Boston University. Elected to the National Academy of Engineering earlier this year, she is also a fellow of the聽IEEE, the聽International Speech and Communication Association聽and the聽Association for Computational Linguistics, and is a member of the聽Washington State Academy of Sciences, a corresponding fellow of the聽Royal Society of Edinburgh, and a former Australian-American Fulbright Scholar.

The 91探花 today announced an initiative to further the UW鈥檚 goals for diversity, equity and inclusion, including $5 million in funding for faculty hiring in the next two years. The initiative builds upon and supports efforts University wide and aims to accelerate and benchmark progress on an annual basis.

Efforts to recruit, welcome and retain a diverse faculty are central to the UW鈥檚 public mission to build a more equitable and just society for everyone, administrators said.

Students benefit from a university with faculty members whose knowledge and understanding represent the diversity of Washington state, as do the people and communities that benefit from the UW鈥檚 research and scholarship. Additionally, this signals to historically-marginalized students, especially underrepresented racial and ethnic minorities, that teaching and research careers are accessible, achievable and encouraged.

鈥淲e know that the 91探花must better reflect the communities we serve, which requires short- and long-term changes to make our University a place where faculty from diverse backgrounds feel they belong,鈥� said 91探花Provost Mark Richards. 鈥淭he University鈥檚 academic leadership, including the Board of Deans and Chancellors, are determined to change this status quo for this generation of students, and for those to come.鈥�

Since 2015, the UW鈥檚 Race and Equity Initiative has focused on transforming institutional policies and practices, and accelerating systemic change. A significant focus of this work 鈥� and one of the goals of the Diversity Blueprint developed in 2010 鈥� has been recruiting faculty who will advance diversity, equity and inclusion through their teaching, research and service.

鈥淢any academic units have made some progress, but we have a long way to go, including ensuring that the structural conditions that contribute to racial inequities are addressed at the unit and university-wide level so that BIPOC faculty can thrive and be successful,鈥� Richards said.

Based on an examination of best practices across the nation, in consultation with the members of the Race & Equity Steering Committee and Faculty Senate leadership, as well as deans and administrators, and consistent with Regent Policy 33, the 91探花will over the next two years:

• Designate $3 million in bridge funding in this fiscal year 2021, and another $2 million in fiscal year 2022, to support recruitment of faculty to the Seattle campus whose research, teaching, mentoring, service and outreach will enhance the UW鈥檚 diversity mission and goals for equity and inclusion.
• Redirect existing central funds for the recruitment and retention of faculty to focus specifically upon faculty who will advance the campus鈥� goals for diversity, equity and inclusion.
• Require that all faculty searches include statements from candidates describing their past and planned contributions to diversity, equity and inclusion.
• Request聽that deans of all schools and colleges examine whether聽hiring, reappointment and promotion criteria for faculty can be enhanced to support diversity, equity and inclusion within their units.
• Host a new national program, with funding from the National Science Foundation and the Washington Research Foundation, to identify outstanding Ph.D. students and post-doctoral fellows from underrepresented groups, and support them as they develop their ambitions and qualifications to become STEM faculty at research universities, including the UW.

鈥淩esearch is at its most creative and robust when researchers with diverse backgrounds and perspectives interact,鈥� said Mary Lidstrom, vice provost for research. 鈥淭his initiative will continue efforts to support diversity, equity and inclusion in research, enhancing the research enterprise for all.鈥�

Similar initiatives are in progress at 91探花Bothell and 91探花Tacoma. 91探花Tacoma will focus on hiring and supporting clusters of faculty who have expertise and focus on diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice issues. 91探花Bothell leadership has designated bridge funding for the next two years to help departments recruit faculty who advance diversity.

鈥淔aculty Senate leadership prioritizes issues of racial justice and understands the importance of making a concerted effort to recruit and support faculty who advance diversity,鈥� said Robin Angotti, chair of the Faculty Senate and a professor of mathematics at 91探花Bothell. 鈥淲e look forward to working closely with administration to make measurable advances in these areas.鈥�

Additionally, the provost has tasked Ed Taylor, vice provost of Undergraduate Academic Affairs, to convene a sub-group of the Race & Equity Steering Committee, to take this work to the next level over the coming year. This group鈥檚 work will include, but will not be limited to, addressing several long-term goals:

• Improve the on-boarding process for new faculty, including welcoming, orientation, community building and mentoring that meets the needs of faculty from under-represented backgrounds.
• Enhance the depth and availability of and familiarity with data regarding faculty demographics.
• Develop a systematic faculty exit interview process to identify and address climate issues that have prompted some faculty to leave the UW.
• Increase fundraising efforts that support the University,聽schools and colleges聽as they聽create聽endowments to recruit and retain faculty who contribute to the UW鈥檚 diversity, equity and inclusion goals; recruit聽early career scholars who may be developed and聽retained聽to tenure-track faculty positions; and聽fund research and scholarship in support of campus diversity, equity and inclusion goals, among other efforts.

The UW鈥檚 Race & Equity Steering Committee will update President Ana Mari Cauce and Provost Richards in November on the collective successes and failures of these initial efforts and address the following questions: How significantly have we moved the needle in 2021? How can we do better? And what more needs to be done?

鈥淚 have been impressed, during these most difficult pandemic times, with the determination and actions of our faculty and campus leaders to attract faculty who advance our diversity, equity and inclusion goals,鈥� Richards said. 鈥淭he pandemic itself has made the urgency of this mission all the more clear by exposing the stark inequities that continue to divide our nation and cause so much pain to so many in our communities.鈥�

Her associate dean role was half-time and Lidstrom, a professor of applied microbiology in the UW鈥檚 chemical engineering and microbiology departments, was determined that if she accepted the role she would keep her research going. But accepting the position would mean giving up instruction 鈥� including a program she loved, teaching biology to engineers 鈥� and limiting some of her laboratory work. She negotiated a 75% position as VP for Research in November 2005, reserving 25% of her time to maintain her lab and research.

Since then, Lidstrom and her team in the Office of Research have made it their mission to support research by supporting researchers. Key among their priorities is helping faculty navigate and make sense of the bureaucracy, paperwork and regulations that come along with their jobs.

鈥淔aculty spend way too much time on administrative issues,鈥� Lidstrom said. 鈥淲e have a specific initiative to give time back to faculty so that they can do research, mentor trainees, teach and interact with students 鈥� all of the things that make the faculty job so amazing and their research so successful. It isn鈥檛 easy to achieve this goal in the face of ever-increasing regulations from the federal government, but because of the strong team we have in the Office of Research and with our partners across the university, we are making progress.鈥�

Now, after more than 15 years of providing that time for others, she鈥檚 taking a little for herself. Lidstrom will step down from her position on Aug. 31, 2021, with plans to return full time to the faculty, concentrate on her research, and establish mentoring and diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

鈥淚鈥檓 looking forward to several years of pretty intense activity in these areas,鈥� Lidstrom said. 鈥淚’ve been putting these things off for 15 years, basically, because I haven’t had time to pursue them and now I鈥檓 going to indulge myself. It鈥檚 a little selfish, in some ways, but I鈥檝e convinced myself it鈥檚 not selfish because I do think after 15 years it will be very healthy for the University to bring in somebody with new ideas and new perspective.鈥�

Lidstrom鈥檚 ongoing ability to keep her research in progress no doubt contributed to her election to the National Academy of Sciences in 2013. Her research team studies bacteria that live on methane, and they are working on projects that will increase sustainable production of fuels and industrial chemicals, while also removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere to help slow global warming.

The University鈥檚 research portfolio has grown from $996 million when Lidstrom took on her role to an astounding $1.63 billion in 2020. Over the past decade, the 91探花has received more externally sponsored research funding than any other U.S. public university, and recent global rankings that emphasize research place the 91探花in the range of sixth聽to 16th聽in the world.

Lidstrom is quick to credit the faculty and scholars for those accolades, noting that the depth and breadth of the UW鈥檚 expertise is rare among research universities and has helped the University weather the ebbs and flows of funding in any particular areas. That said, she has been successful in significant fundraising for research and researchers, and has played an important role in a number of high impact interdisciplinary programs in the past 15 years covering research, education and outreach.

鈥淚t is always true that research is about recruitment and retention of top faculty, and having a supportive environment for them,鈥� Lidstrom said. 鈥淎 lot of universities have four or five areas of excellence and they focus on those. But here we have dozens. That鈥檚 what makes the research enterprise so strong.鈥�

Mark Richards, the UW鈥檚 provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, said it鈥檚 difficult to overstate Lidstrom鈥檚 contributions to the UW.

鈥淪he has brought strength and stability to our research enterprise during challenging times, including the pandemic and the several times in her tenure when federal funding and support of science have been uncertain,鈥� Richards said. 鈥淢oreover, Mary鈥檚 wisdom and savvy about the national and international research landscape have helped keep 91探花at the forefront of many fields.鈥�

Collaborative research 鈥撀爓ithin the 91探花and with other organizations 鈥撀爃as been a priority for Lidstrom, with 27% of 91探花research funding involving partnerships with other entities. Interdisciplinary research centers and institutes are also thriving across the UW鈥檚 campuses.

鈥淲hat I knew before I came in is how collaborative researchers are at the 91探花compared to other places I’ve been,鈥� Lidstrom said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just in the culture here. That actually makes it easy for the VPR to do this job, because you can reach out and you can work with people and they are willing to discuss new ideas and to help.鈥�

Lidstrom, who got her start doing research as an undergraduate, said a hallmark of her academic career has been maintaining a tiered mentoring community in which students sometimes as early as high school are working in concert with undergraduates, graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, along with professors.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a very healthy environment for people to learn in, and to support diversity, because that鈥檚 really important to me,鈥� she said. 鈥淎 significant amount of research funding at the 91探花goes to support undergraduate learning 鈥� hands-on, experiential learning. At a public research institution like the UW, you can鈥檛 separate out research and education, because they鈥檙e just inextricably intertwined.鈥�

The Frank Jungers Endowed Chair of Engineering, Lidstrom first joined the 91探花as an assistant professor in 1978, earning tenure and promotion, before going to Caltech in 1987. She returned 25 years ago as professor and took on the role of vice provost for research from 2005 to 2010. She served as interim provost for the 2010-11 academic year, and then returned to the Office of Research as vice provost.

As for what the next 15 years and beyond may bring in the world of academic research, Lidstrom expects to see changes in the research training and funding processes to make them more diverse.

鈥淚 think it must change and become more inclusive,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think we have to completely revamp the whole system to get that to happen, but I think there will be some growing pains there.鈥�

Provost Richards will soon launch an internal search to find Lidstrom鈥檚 successor and will be seeking nominations of outstanding faculty leaders from within the 91探花for consideration.

Under guidelines first released in late March by the office 鈥� and in line with the 鈥淪tay Home, Stay Healthy鈥� orders from Gov. Jay Inslee that took effect on March 25 鈥� most 91探花researchers, which include faculty, staff, postdoctoral researchers, graduate and undergraduate students, were directed to start working from home if they had not done so already. Only essential research could continue at 91探花facilities, and then only with safety measures such as social distancing, using personal protective equipment, and decontaminating equipment and surfaces.

Those experiences early in the pandemic made 91探花an example for other U.S. institutions as the novel coronavirus spread. In May, the Office of Research released guidelines for a safe 鈥渞amp up鈥� of in-person, on-campus research activities that had been paused. Lidstrom and colleagues from five other prominent research universities also co-authored a , published May 28 in Science, highlighting key issues that institutions must address as they proceed with research ramp-up plans.

Lidstrom, who is also a 91探花professor of chemical engineering and of microbiology, sat down virtually with 91探花News to discuss the evolving picture of research at the UW.

What happened to research at the 91探花when COVID-19 hit the Seattle region?

ML: Within days of Gov. Inslee鈥檚 鈥淪tay Home, Stay Healthy鈥� order in late March, we distributed guidelines for UW-related research activities. Understandably, a lot of research ramped down, but the university also allowed certain essential research to continue. This included all COVID-19 research, which was cast quite broadly; biomedical and public health research; long-term experiments; work needed to maintain equipment or for animal care; and research that graduate students needed to complete their degrees by the end of the school year. All of these activities could continue, provided strict safety and social distancing requirements were followed.

Many research-related activities continued remotely: data analysis, group meetings, seminars, preparing manuscripts and proposals, online trainings, even remote data collection 鈥� like in astronomy.

But non-essential, on-campus research activities ramped down pretty quickly. We also paused most research with human subjects and field research. Depending on the area, some research laboratories did close, but almost all had some people coming in for safety and maintenance issues 鈥� animal care, maintenance and related activities.

In addition, I would like to point to the amazing people in the 91探花research administration and compliance offices, who moved all possible workload online in a matter of days, continued to support the research enterprise without a pause, and set up processes to prioritize COVID-19 related research. In most cases they turned around complex applications in a matter of hours.聽 Without them, we could not have accomplished what we have to date.

What considerations did you take as the Office of Research prepared these guidelines?

ML: Our focus is on helping people 鈥� and safeguarding their health and well-being. We really wanted to keep the number of people coming to campus for research purposes at a minimum. And even for essential research activities, no one is required to come to campus. If people cannot come to campus due to health concerns, child care issues, transportation issues or having vulnerable family members, we must accommodate them. That has been the university鈥檚 policy since the pandemic started, and that remains in place even as we have made preparations to 鈥渞amp up鈥� some research activities once again.

How has the move to 鈥渞amp up鈥� research changed these guidelines?

ML: In early May, the governor announced plans for a of Washington鈥檚 economy. In response, we prepared and distributed guidelines for allowing certain in-person research activities on campus, provided a set of strict safety measures were met.

What was the motivation behind these new guidelines?

ML: Research is one of the core functions of this university. And in early May, the public health metrics of the COVID-19 pandemic in Washington were looking sufficiently positive that we thought we could start to allow small numbers of individuals to return to campus for research once again. That is happening now. But, we are phasing it in gradually and thoughtfully.

We are also very much aware that, now and moving forward, there are circumstances where coming to campus is not an option. We don鈥檛 want anyone to feel pressured to come in. We are recognizing that careers are at stake, and many researchers are eager to resume research. So, we are trying to make it permissive to come to campus in a safe way 鈥� but this is in no way required.

How did the Office of Research prepare these guidelines?

ML: We have a whole team working on this within the Office of Research. We鈥檝e also gotten a great deal of input from academic units, campus leaders and advisory groups 鈥� including department chairs, deans鈥� offices and the Faculty Council on Research. We also worked closely with 91探花. Everyone stepped up and was very helpful. We had quite a bit of excellent advice.

What are some steps that researchers must take to be able to return to campus?

ML: There are many steps, more than I can cover here. But I can give you an overview.

Every principal investigator 鈥� a professor or head of a research group 鈥� must prepare a detailed plan for resuming in-person research while maintaining social distancing requirements and other safety measures. There鈥檚 quite a lot that must go into this plan: strict limits on the number of people in each room in the research space; moving equipment and staggering schedules to accommodate social distancing; use of personal protective equipment; designating who will do what; educating team members about health attestation and safety requirements; and staying home if they come down with symptoms.

Then, they must get that plan approved by their department chair or equivalent, order and receive all necessary supplies 鈥� including personal protective equipment 鈥� and that鈥檚 all before anyone can even show up to campus.

Have 91探花policies shaped what鈥檚 happened at other universities?

ML: Yes, they have. We were one of the first major research universities to have to deal with COVID-19. We made our initial guidelines public for other institutions to view. They could even use them as templates for their own guidelines. Some of my counterparts in the University of California system reached out to me and ultimately used our framework to help create guidelines for the UC system. That in turn went out to colleagues across the country, being improved upon at each step. The whole community of research offices has worked together and helped each other. It鈥檚 just been amazing.

That鈥檚 what led to this policy forum article, as well. We wanted to share the considerations we鈥檝e made and raise important issues like safety, social distancing, and the need for gradual, thoughtful ramping up. We鈥檙e not going through this alone, and we should continue to help one another.

For more information, contact Lidstrom at lidstrom@uw.edu.

The award will fund four interdisciplinary initiatives that seek to advance global innovation in clean energy, protein design, big data science and neuroengineering.

The funding will be used to hire new faculty, attract competitive postdoctoral researchers and enhance facilities and infrastructure. The goal is to boost the UW’s contribution in these high-need research areas and encourage spinout companies among involved researchers.

“This is a watershed moment for the university and Washington Research Foundation,” said 91探花President Michael K. Young.聽“To see investors in Washington supporting their flagship research university makes a strong statement about how important such local investment is. The four grant recipient groups include some of our most productive and creative faculty, and we are deeply grateful to the foundation for its vote of confidence in their work.”

The award, given to four projects over six years, represents the largest gift by the foundation to the UW. The funding is unusually flexible, allowing each project team to name specific resources it needs to meet its stated goals, said , 91探花vice provost for research and a professor of chemical engineering and microbiology.

“The projects impact a large number of departments in multiple schools and colleges, resulting in a broad and sustained impact for the university as a whole,” Lidstrom said. “This investment will also have long-lasting economic impact to the larger community, creating jobs and revenue in high-tech areas for many years to come.”

The projects were chosen based on the researchers who lead them and their competitive positions in their respective fields, as well as the possibility the 91探花research will set a global standard and create the clear potential for spinout companies. University leaders worked with the foundation to identify an initial group of six projects, and after reviewing proposals and visiting with each group the foundation selected four to fund.

“We’re very pleased to continue and solidify our long-term relationship with the 91探花,” said Ronald Howell, president and CEO of Washington Research Foundation. “And聽our strategic investment will help the 91探花recruit and retain the very best people who can advance scientific discovery. Hopefully, this will pave the way for greater innovation in data analysis,聽neuroengineering, protein design and clean energy as we move into the future.”

The foundation is a nonprofit organization that supports cutting-edge research and early stage entrepreneurs in the areas of life sciences, information technology and physical sciences. It also seeks to help grow Washington’s technology economy.

The four 91探花projects funded by Washington Research Foundation are:

Institute for Protein Design Innovation Fellows
$8 million over six years

The will recruit and hire about 12 scientists to be based at Seattle-area labs that collaborate with the 91探花institute and specialize in the fields of health, medicine, computer science, materials science and engineering.

The scientists, or innovation fellows, will work at various collaborating organizations, but will be trained in protein design at the UW. They will apply the methods they learn to help solve current research challenges while at their host organizations. The goal is to recruit top-notch scientists who have the potential to become tenure-track professors.

The Institute for Protein Design formed in 2012 with the mission to design new synthetic proteins that address current challenges in medicine, energy and technology. Gov. Jay Inslee and the state Legislature provided $1 million in funding in the 2014 supplemental budget to support the institute.

from the Institute for Protein Design.

Institute for Neuroengineering
$7.19 million over six years

A number of 91探花schools, colleges and departments will use the award to establish an Institute for Neuroengineering, which will foster collaborative research across many disciplines to address current challenges in neural disorders and functions, and provide new technologies for people affected by neural disorders.

The team plans to hire two junior-level faculty members in the areas of sensory information processing and computational neuroscience.

The funding will also support nine postdoctoral researchers, nine graduate students, nine undergraduate students and nine high school student interns. In addition, it will support building renovations in the Department of Biology to house new research. Research will take place jointly with the at the UW.

Global Leadership in Data-Intensive Discovery
$9.27 million over six years

Rapid advances in technology are transforming nearly every field from “data-poor” to “data-rich” 鈥� not only in the sciences, engineering, and medicine, but also in the social sciences and increasingly in the humanities. The ability to extract knowledge from this abundance of data is important for breakthroughs in research.

This team, which includes 13 faculty members spanning nine departments and four schools and colleges, is working to ensure that the 91探花is a leader both in advancing the methodologies of data science and in putting these advances to work in many different fields.

Operating under the umbrella of the UW’s , the team will hire six new faculty members specializing in methods and applications of big data, establish three chairs and three professorships and recruit 13 postdoctoral researchers.

Funding will also support the remodel of space on campus to house the UW’s new “data science studio,” an area where data scientists and researchers across fields can work collaboratively on projects.

Excellence in Clean Energy Innovation
$6.74 million over six years

The UW’s will hire nine new faculty members who will focus on lowering the cost and increasing the performance of solar energy production, storage and delivery. Research will include the discovery of advanced materials for solar cells and batteries, manufacturing methods that are lower cost, and the development of new software and hardware strategies for integrating clean energy with systems and the grid.

The funding will also support six new postdoctoral researchers and the creation of a new experimental manufacturing facility on campus that will help move discoveries from the laboratory to the marketplace.

The Legislature and Inslee established the institute in 2013 to be a research center for advancing solar energy and electrical energy storage capabilities.

from the Clean Energy Institute.

###

For more information:
91探花: Mary Lidstrom: lidstrom@uw.edu or 206-685-7641.
Washington Research Foundation: Steven Gottlieb: s.gottlieb@greenc3.com or 206-427-9591.

Project contacts:

Institute for Protein Design Innovation Fellows
, senior director of strategy:聽ljs5@uw.edu聽or 206-616-7542.

Institute for Neuroengineering
, professor of biology:聽danielt@uw.edu聽or 206-543-1659.
, associate professor of physiology and biophysics:聽fairhall@uw.edu聽or 206-427-1557.

Global Leadership in Data-Intensive Discovery
, professor of computer science and engineering:聽lazowska@cs.washington.edu聽or 206-543-4755.

Excellence in Clean Energy Innovation
, professor of chemical engineering: uwcei@uw.edu or 206-685-6833.

“The product that we鈥檙e shooting for will have the same fuel characteristics as diesel,” said principal investigator , a 91探花professor of chemical engineering and microbiology. “It can be used in trucks, boats, buses, cars, tractors 鈥� anything that diesel does now.”

The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, or , selected the UW-led project in its second major funding round that awarded 66 grants to U.S. universities, businesses and national labs. The Energy Department launched the agency in 2009 to support high-risk, potentially transformative energy research projects.

The 91探花engineers will work with scientists at the National Renewable Energy Lab and two industry partners. They will target the natural gas associated with oil fields, which is often flared off as waste, as well as so-called “stranded” natural gas reserves that are too small for a pipeline to be economically viable.

The team aims to capture that natural gas and use bacteria to turn its main component, methane, into a liquid fuel for transportation.

“The goal at the end of three years is to have an integrated process that will be ready for pre-commercialization pilot testing,” Lidstrom said.

The four project partners have distinct roles. First, the 91探花team will develop a version of the bacteria that is even better at converting methane to energy-rich fatlike molecules. Then , an Illinois-based biofuels company, will develop a way to grow the new bacteria in larger quantities at high efficiency. Next the U.S. in Golden, Colo., will devise an efficient way to extract the energy-rich molecules from the microbe’s cells. Finally, partners at , a U.K. chemical company, will use chemical catalysts to convert those molecules into diesel.

After establishing a viable method, national lab scientists will work with the industry partners to develop an economic model that predicts manufacturing costs as production scales up.

The bacterium at the center of the effort comes from an alkaline salty lake near Mongolia. Team member , a 91探花research associate professor in microbiology, discovered it during her graduate studies in Russia. The microbe can survive in harsh environments, consumes methane and uses it to build cells containing energy-rich lipids. At the UW, the microbe has been evolved to grow unusually fast, making it practical for industrial applications.

Other members of the 91探花team are research assistant professor and senior research scientist , both in chemical engineering. The grant starts in February and lasts three years, with project milestones due every quarter.

“It鈥檚 exciting,” Lidstrom said. “We have to hit the ground running. It鈥檚 very ambitious but we believe this team is strong enough, and we know enough about what needs to be done that we will achieve our goal.”

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For more information, contact Lidstrom at 206-543-2250 or lidstrom@uw.edu.