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1. Berkeley Bioeconomy Conference 2026 2. IBMC Seminar Series on the Bioeconomy and Microalgae Recap 3. International Bioeconomy & Macroalgae Center (IBMC) Second Annual Workshop 4. Seminar Series Part 5: Biomass to Breakthrough 5. Blog 6. EBI Recharge Facility 7. EBI Business Incubator 8. Job Opportunities 9. Bay Area Sustainability, Energy and Power Summit 2026 10. POWER Conference on Energy Research and Policy 12. The Guardian: Scientists warn of ‘regime shift’ as seaweed blooms expand worldwide 13. LBNL: Accelerating Discovery: How the Materials Project Is Helping to Usher in the AI Revolution for Materials Science 14. ESG News: Japan Airlines and Partners Complete Phase 1 of SAF Trading Pilot to Advance Aviation Decarbonization
15. LBNL: From Nano to Nobel: National Lab Researchers Use MOFs to Solve Big Problems 16. The Guardian: California is completely drought-free for the first time in 25 years |
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| | | Berkeley Bioeconomy Conference 2026 |
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| The Berkeley Bioeconomy Conference will convene leaders from academia, industry, government, and philanthropy to define how biological innovation can drive climate solutions, sustainable manufacturing, and economic growth. As UC Berkeley launches a unified Bioeconomy Hub, this conference serves as a flagship forum to align science, policy, markets, and infrastructure. |
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| | | IBMC Seminar Series on the Bioeconomy and Microalgae |
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| We’re thrilled to announce the inaugural IBMC Seminar Series on the Bioeconomy and Microalgae — and what a kickoff it was! Our first session featured Elizabeth Saunders (UC Berkeley) presenting “Challenges and Opportunities for Advancing California’s Seaweed Industry: Social License to Operate, Environmental Concerns, and an International Comparison,” drawing strong attendance and lively engagement from our community.
This series is designed to spark research exchange, deepen connections, and highlight cutting-edge work across bioeconomy and macroalgae topics — and there’s so much more to come!
Don’t forget: to attend future seminars and receive updates, you must be an IBMC member. If you haven’t yet, sign up for membership and join us for the next session! |
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| | International Bioeconomy & Macroalgae Center (IBMC) Second Annual Workshop |
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| Michele Stanley, Professor in Marine Biotechnology, Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), and her research colleagues will be hosting this year’s second annual IBMC Workshop. The workshop is scheduled for June 10–12, 2026 in Oban, Scotland. More details and information will be shared soon.
To make travel more efficient for international participants, we have aligned the second IBMC workshop with the 15th International Seaweed Agriculture Conference in Gothenburg, Sweden, scheduled for June 16–18, 2026. |
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| | | Seminar Series Part 5: Biomass to Breakthrough |
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| The Energy & Biosciences Institute is excited to announce the latest installment of the Biomass to Breakthrough seminar series. Professor Gavin Collins, Associate Professor of Microbiology at the University of Galway, joins us to discuss his work on the circular bioeconomy, macroalgae-based bioenergy, and microbial ecology. He’ll provide a brief look at anaerobic digestion, the microbially driven process that converts organic matter into renewable biogas, and explain why macroalgae is emerging as a promising feedstock.
We hope you enjoy this series and all that it will cover. Please share with students and anyone else who might be interested! Stay tuned for upcoming installments and insights from innovators turning biomass into the breakthroughs of tomorrow. |
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EBI Executive Committee member David Zilberman has released a new blog titled “The EBI’s Evolving Role in Developing a World-Leading Bioeconomy Hub at Berkeley.” In the piece, Zilberman traces the EBI’s evolution from a focus on second-generation biofuels to its expansion into the International Bioeconomy & Macroalgae Center (IBMC), highlighting how Berkeley has positioned itself as a global leader in the blue bioeconomy. He also outlines emerging initiatives shaping the future of bioeconomy research on campus. |
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| | Position available for Postdoctoral Researcher in Coastal Hazards, Economic Prosperity, and Resilience—University of Delaware |
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| Coastal Hazards, Economic Prosperity, and Resilience (CHEER) is an interdisciplinary collaboration of engineers, sociologists, hydrologists, economists, and policy scholars to build innovative tools and insights as to how hurricanes, floods, and other climate-related hazards influence household, community, government, and private sector decisions. This position is especially well suited to candidates interested in research and direct engagement with practitioners (local, state, regional, and nonprofit partners). Strong emphasis on interdisciplinary research (i.e. working with engineers and economists to intregrate policy rules or options into decision-making models) and adaptation ethics. |
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| | | Position available for Staff Research Associate — California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences, UC Berkeley |
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| The California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences at UC Berkeley (QB3-Berkeley) supports work at the interface of the physical, biological, and engineering sciences. They are seeking a staff reserach association to support the Merchant group. Duties include managing lab operations, acting as a primary point-of-contact for external stakeholders, and ensuring organization and continuity. The Merchant lab focuses on understanding photosynthesis and chloroplast biology and uses genomic tools to exploit green algae for biofuels and bioproducts applications. |
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| | | | Bay Area Sustainability, Energy and Power Summit 2026 |
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| The Bay Area Sustainability, Energy & Power Summit will explore how electrification, grid constraints, and sustainability policies are shaping real estate development. Attendees will learn strategies for low-carbon, efficient, and scalable projects while connecting with industry leaders across development, design, engineering, and policy. |
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| | POWER Conference on Energy Research and Policy |
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The Energy Institute’s annual POWER Conference will take place on Friday, March 20, 2026 at the Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley. Attend POWER to learn about exciting new research on energy markets and regulation from leading scholars, and engage directly with energy policy and business professionals. Registration will open in mid-January 2026. |
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| | | | The Guardian: Scientists warn of ‘regime shift’ as seaweed blooms expand worldwide |
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| Scientists warn that the world’s oceans may be undergoing a major shift as large seaweed blooms spread across many regions, driven by warming waters and nutrient pollution. This growing dominance of seaweed over other marine plants could darken ocean waters, disrupt ecosystems, alter carbon cycles, and contribute to climate change, signaling a fundamental change in ocean conditions. |
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| | | LBNL: Accelerating Discovery: How the Materials Project Is Helping to Usher in the AI Revolution for Materials Science |
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The Materials Project, an open-access database created at Berkeley Lab, has become a foundational resource for materials science by making high-quality, AI-ready materials data freely available to researchers worldwide. Designed to accelerate the discovery of new materials, the platform supports advances across fields such as energy storage, electronics, quantum computing, and industrial manufacturing by combining large-scale computational modeling with user-friendly tools. Its emphasis on open science, curated datasets, and built-in machine learning capabilities has helped bridge academia and industry, democratize access to materials knowledge, and enable faster, data-driven scientific breakthroughs. |
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| | | ESG News: Japan Airlines and Partners Complete Phase 1 of SAF Trading Pilot to Advance Aviation Decarbonization |
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| Japan Airlines and six partners have completed the first phase of a new initiative testing Scope 3 environmental value trading as a way to accelerate the adoption of sustainable aviation fuel. The pilot, conducted at Narita Airport, demonstrated that a transparent, third-party-verified trading platform can successfully support SAF use across the aviation value chain. With the approach validated, the group plans to expand participation and move toward full-scale implementation to further support aviation decarbonization. |
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| | | | LBNL: From Nano to Nobel: National Lab Researchers Use MOFs to Solve Big Problems |
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| Omar Yaghi’s pioneering development of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) launched a new class of highly versatile materials that can be precisely designed to capture, store, and transform molecules, opening pathways for breakthroughs in energy, health, and environmental technologies. Building on this foundational work, researchers at Berkeley Lab and its DOE user facilities are advancing MOFs for real-world applications such as clean energy storage, water harvesting, pollution capture, catalysis, and medical diagnostics, using powerful experimental, computational, and AI-driven tools. Yaghi’s Nobel Prize highlights how fundamental research, supported by national lab infrastructure, can lead to transformative technologies with broad societal impact. |
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| | | The Guardian: California is completely drought-free for the first time in 25 years |
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| California has emerged from drought for the first time in decades after several wet years and powerful winter storms replenished reservoirs and eased long-standing water shortages. The shift marks a major change for a state that has struggled with drought-driven wildfires, agricultural stress, and strict water conservation measures. However, experts caution that the situation remains fragile, as snowpack levels are below average and long-term water security will depend on continued precipitation and spring snow accumulation. |
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