| 1. Welcome Back 2. EBI Summer Highlights 3. IBMC Conference 2027 4. Zilberman Blog 5. EBI Recharge Facility 6. EBI Business Incubator 7. Job Opportunities 8. Biomass PowerOn Conference 9. 2026 ASHRAE Building Decarbonization Conference 10. AP News: How Extreme Heat is Changing Americans’ Lives, According to a New AP-NORC Poll 11. UIUC: Illinois-Led Team Selected for DOE Genesis Mission Award 12. LBNL: Pulling Graphite Out of Thin Air 13. AP News: A Blanket of Seaweed Smothers Coastlines from the Caribbean to Mexico
14. LBNL: Ice Ice Maybe: New Ways to Search for Frozen Water on the Moon |
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| A new academic year is here, and the Energy & Biosciences Institute (EBI) is excited to welcome students back to campus! Whether you’re starting your first year at UC Berkeley, UIUC, or returning for another year, we hope the year ahead brings plenty of opportunities to explore, connect, and learn.
There is a lot happening at EBI and the International Bioeconomy & Macroalgae Center (IBMC), from groundbreaking research to new collaborations focused on some of today’s biggest sustainability challenges. We invite you to learn more about the work taking place across both institutes and discover how research can move beyond the lab to create real-world impact.
For more than 18 years, EBI has brought together researchers and partners across UC Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to advance research and connect scientific discovery with commercial innovation. As a multi-partner institute, EBI serves as more than a center for academic excellence. It is a place where research, collaboration, and entrepreneurship come together to turn new ideas into solutions.
We hope that you will follow us on LinkedIn, X, and Instagram to stay updated on our latest events and opportunities. Join our growing community and be part of the conversation!
As the new academic year begins, we look forward to sharing the research, people, and ideas shaping what comes next. |
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| This summer, the Energy & Biosciences Institute (EBI) brought together students, researchers, and global partners to advance research across energy, biosciences, and the emerging bioeconomy.
Our 2026 EBI and EBI-PVAMU-Shell summer interns tackled real-world research challenges throughout the summer, culminating in final presentations that showcased their technical skills, creativity, and growth. We also celebrated the continued momentum of the International Bioeconomy & Macroalgae Center (IBMC), with more than 100 participants from 13 countries gathering in Oban, Scotland, for the second IBMC International Workshop. The two-day event featured research presentations, discussions, facility tours, and a visit to a local seaweed farm, strengthening connections across academia, industry, and government.
EBI and IBMC researchers also shared their work on the international stage. At Seagriculture EU 2026 in Gothenburg, more than 200 participants from over 30 countries gathered to discuss the future of the European seaweed industry, with IBMC Managing Director and EBI Strategic Planning & Development Director Thiago Correa presenting on scaling the global bioeconomy through macroalgae. Thiago also delivered a keynote at a workshop on seaweed farming and the energy transition in Brazil, highlighting IBMC’s growing international role in advancing sustainable macroalgae and bioeconomy solutions. Together, these milestones reflect a summer of research, collaboration, and global exchange—and the continued work toward a more sustainable future. |
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| The International Bioeconomy & Macroalgae Center (IBMC) is excited to announce its 3rd Annual IBMC Workshop, bringing together researchers, industry leaders, policymakers, and practitioners to explore one ambitious question: What would it take for a country to sustainably produce 1 million tons of dry seaweed at less than $100 per ton while creating a positive impact on the ocean?
Building on the success of the first two workshops, this three-day event will explore the technologies, policies, markets, infrastructure, and workforce needed to reach seaweed production at transformative scale. Key topics will include regulation, automation, geospatial modeling, market development, workforce development, and supply chains. We hope you can join us as we explore what it will take to move the seaweed industry from ambition to scale and from scale to ocean-positive impact. |
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In his latest post, David Zilberman explores the growing global momentum behind the bioeconomy and Berkeley’s role in shaping its future. He highlights emerging opportunities for collaboration across research, policy, education, and industry, from macroalgae and biotechnology to sustainable agriculture and circular production systems.
Read the full post to learn more about the growing global bioeconomy movement and Berkeley’s role in advancing it. |
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| Columbia Climate School opens this postdoctoral competition on September 2, with an October 30 deadline at 11:59 p.m. ET. The appointment is a one- to two-year postdoc with flexibility on start date, and applicants need a research proposal plus letters of recommendation. It is a strong option for researchers seeking a climate-facing academic platform in New York. |
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| | | Cornell Atkinson Postdoctoral Fellowship in Sustainability |
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| Cornell Atkinson is accepting applications for its sustainability postdoctoral fellowship until October 20 at 5 p.m. ET. Fellows work with both a Cornell mentor and an external partner organization, which makes the program unusually strong for translational sustainability research. The call is broad enough to fit climate, energy systems, agriculture, and bioeconomy projects. |
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| | | | Biomass PowerOn Conference |
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| The 8th European Biomass PowerON Conference 2026 takes place on 7–8 October 2026 in Stockholm, bringing together professionals focused on where the biomass and bioenergy markets are heading next. Following a strong previous edition, the 2026 programme highlights current developments across Europe, including EU ETS, carbon removals (CRCF), financing and revenue optimisation, as well as pellet markets, certification, and supply chain digitalisation. |
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| 2026 ASHRAE Building Decarbonization Conference |
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| The 2026 ASHRAE Building Decarbonization Conference brings together leaders across the built environment to explore practical solutions for energy efficiency, occupant health, and greenhouse gas reduction. Now in its 6th year, the conference focuses on proven strategies, case studies, and scalable approaches for both new and existing buildings.
The event connects engineers, building owners, utilities, governments, and industry leaders to share cost-effective pathways for meeting decarbonization goals across sectors including data centers, hospitals, schools, airports, and higher education. |
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| | | | AP News: How Extreme Heat is Changing Americans’ Lives,According to a New AP-NORC Poll |
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| The latest AP-NORC poll shows extreme heat is increasingly shaping daily life for Americans, especially through higher electricity bills, disrupted sleep, and limits on outdoor activity. The impacts are broad across the political spectrum, with especially strong effects in the West and Midwest. It is a useful signal for climate adaptation, public health, and infrastructure planning. |
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| | | UIUC: Illinois-Led Team Selected for DOE Genesis Mission Award |
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| The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign says a team led by Huimin Zhao has been selected as a DOE Genesis Mission awardee. That places a bioscience-heavy campus team inside a national effort to accelerate discovery with AI, supercomputing, and advanced instruments. It is a strong institutional signal for bioeconomy and automated-lab work. |
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| | | LBNL: Pulling Graphite Out of Thin Air |
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| Berkeley Lab, UC Berkeley, and Estonian partners showed a promising route for turning carbon dioxide into graphite using molten-salt electrolysis. The team watched the reaction in real time, which helped answer a long-standing chemistry question and sharpen the path toward battery-grade graphite from waste carbon. If it scales, the work could matter for critical minerals, batteries, and carbon utilization. |
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| | | | AP News: A Blanket of Seaweed Smothers Coastlines from theCaribbean to Mexico |
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| AP reports that a massive sargassum bloom is overwhelming coastlines across the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, with roughly 27 million metric tons recorded in July. The story links the surge to warming waters, runoff, and changing currents, and notes that the bloom is now reproducing locally rather than simply drifting in. For macroalgae watchers, it is a clear reminder that seaweed can be both a climate-linked resource and a coastal hazard. |
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| | | LBNL: Ice Ice Maybe: New Ways to Search for Frozen Wateron the Moon |
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| Berkeley Lab researchers and university partners built a moon-like test chamber and modeling approach to distinguish icy from dry rock using seismic signals. The work is aimed at future Artemis-style exploration, where finding water ice will be essential for long-duration lunar missions. The same methods also connect back to geothermal and carbon-storage research on Earth. |
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