Freshwater and coastal waters may cover just a small portion of the planet, but they turn out to be powerful contributors to nitrogen fixation, a natural process essential to life on Earth. A new global study co-authored by Sarah Roley, associate professor of environmental science in the College of Arts and Sciences at Washington State University Tri-Cities, and Carmella Vizza, former ���سԹ� post-doctoral research associate and current assistant professor at Hawai’i Pacific University, reveals that these ecosystems produce far more nitrogen than previously recognized.

The research recently published in the journal Science, demonstrates that lakes, rivers, wetlands, and coastal waters fix approximately 40 million tons of usable nitrogen each year, which is about 15% of the global total. That’s a significant contribution, especially considering these environments represent less than 10% of Earth’s surface area.

“Nitrogen is essential for life but unusable by most organisms in its atmospheric form,” said Roley. “Through nitrogen fixation, specialized microbes convert nitrogen from the air into forms that plants and other organisms can use. This study shows that inland and coastal waters are doing much more of this work than we realized.”

Until now, most scientific estimates of global nitrogen fixation focused on terrestrial ecosystems and the open ocean. The new study helps fill a critical gap by quantifying nitrogen fixation in the aquatic environments in between, such as lakes, rivers, wetlands and coastal waters.

The findings suggest that current environmental models may need to be recalibrated. If nitrogen contributions from these systems are undercounted, forecasts for climate change, agriculture, and pollution risks may be off target.

“This research will help improve environmental models and predictions by giving us a more complete picture of where nitrogen is coming from,” Roley said. “Often, a lack of nitrogen limits algae and plant growth, especially in coastal ecosystems. These global nitrogen fixation estimates can help us better understand algal growth in freshwater and coastal ecosystems, which are clearly producing more of their own nitrogen than we previously understood.”

The research team was part of a Research Coordination Network called National Science Foundation. The team compiled 4,793 nitrogen fixation rate measurements from existing studies and synthesized the data during a workshop.

The research team compiled global nitrogen fixation data from water columns and sediments across hundreds of inland and coastal sites. Their analysis revealed that nitrogen fixation is widespread and varies widely by location, with some areas fixing orders of magnitude more nitrogen than others.

“Integration of inland and coastal aquatic ecosystems with global nitrogen estimates has been lacking for several reasons,” the authors write. “We anticipate that this study will motivate future research to improve detection techniques, expand monitoring across underrepresented climate zones, and better understand what drives nitrogen fixation in these environments.”

The study, titled , appears in the June 2025 issue of Science.

How are we going to meet the clean energy demands of the future? The Washington State University Tri-Cities Institute for Northwest Energy Futures (INEF) invites the community to learn the answer to this vital question at an open house and ribbon-cutting on Wednesday, Oct. 2 from 4:30 – 6 p.m.

The transition to clean energy is a complex, multi-stakeholder problem that INEF is positioned to tackle by coordinating and connecting WSU energy efforts and partners to innovate systems-level clean energy and carbon-neutral solutions. “The complexity of the energy ecosystem requires us to work beyond traditional boundaries and technical silos,” says Noel Schulz, INEF’s inaugural director. “INEF is excited to collaborate across the WSU system and with the state of Washington.”

Schulz is joined by Assistant Director for Engineering and Environment, Yonas Demissie; Assistant Director for Agriculture, Extension and Outreach, Chad Kruger; and the new WSU Energy Program Director, Georgine Yorgey. “These talented leaders embody the multifaceted and comprehensive approach INEF is taking toward a clean energy future,” said Schulz.

INEF has identified nearly 30 groups in the WSU system involved in energy-related efforts. Its goal is to connect these groups, along with policymakers, other researchers and stakeholders, with the ideas, expertise and analytics to create actionable solutions. In addition to growing these connections, INEF plans to leverage ���سԹ�’ ongoing educational activities and capabilities along with the Tri-Cities regional energy hub to develop the needed workforce.

The open house serves as an opportunity to further educate stakeholders and the community at large about how it will work as a connector, bringing various entities together to form the bigger solution.

Sandra Haynes, chancellor at ���سԹ�, spearheaded the institute in 2021 along with a $500,000 gift from the late Bob Ferguson, a visionary leader at the Hanford site and ���سԹ� advocate. INEF was solidified in July 2023 after Gov. Inslee and the Washington Legislature approved funding to hire administrators, staff and faculty. “We are so excited to have INEF up and running and in a space of its own. This has been a vision for so many of us and I am pleased to welcome the community to come see how we are responding to the big questions involved with moving from clean up to clean energy.”

INEF is located at 2892 Pauling Ave., in Richland. The open house will feature brief remarks from WSU leadership and stakeholders, tours, interactive displays and networking opportunities. For those interested in attending, registration is requested by completing a

By Leslie Streeter

As announced last week, the from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to begin initial planning, permitting and analysis activities. Washington State University Tri-Cities will play a key role in this venture. Part of the award will be used to benefit local communities in Washington, Oregon, and Montana and address environmental justice issues.

Kate McAteer, vice chancellor of academic and student affairs at ���سԹ� is leading Phase 1 planning of the Community Benefits Plan (CBP) portion of the project with support from the Consortium for Hydrogen and Renewably Generated E-Fuels (CHARGE) based out of WSU Everett, and the Office of Tribal Relations at WSU Pullman.

“���سԹ� is located in the heart of clean energy efforts in the state. As a campus that serves a significant population of students from disadvantaged backgrounds, we are ready and I, personally, am thrilled to lead the PNWH2 Hub’s effort to advance job equity and energy justice not only locally, but throughout the Pacific Northwest,” said McAteer.

The CBP will be informed and developed in consultation with local communities and tribes, with the goal of reducing potential impacts of the Hub’s efforts and maximizing local community benefits. The CBP aligns with the Federal��Justice 40 goals, an initiative to deliver at least 40% of the overall benefits from federal investments in climate and clean energy to disadvantaged communities.

The PNWH2 Hub has eight “nodes”, or project sites, across three states, including one in Richland, Washington led by Atlas Agro��and several proposed projects in eastern Oregon.

The PNWH2 Hub project aims to establish the Pacific Northwest as a national benchmark for successful low-carbon intensity and economically viable green hydrogen production. As part of this project, the CBP will engage with communities to define and quantify benefits, avoid disproportionate burdens and closely track and ensure that benefits flow to disadvantaged communities. These benefits could include, but are not limited to, the creation of more than 10,000 quality jobs, reduced emissions and the development of STEM-based education and training programs from K-12 through college to ensure a pipeline of trained and qualified workers to build, then operate and maintain the Hub’s hydrogen projects.

, a multi-state nonprofit organization focused on creating a robust network of clean hydrogen suppliers and end-users in the Pacific Northwest��is sponsoring the project.

A new cross-campus course between Washington State University Pullman and ���سԹ� is enabling history and architecture graduate students to bring rarely told stories about east Pasco’s racial history to life.

The spring 2024 course, Issues in Architecture (Architecture 542), examines infrastructural racism by studying how the built environment shapes communities in relationship with discrimination. After weeks of preparation in the classroom, 24 graduate students from WSU Pullman spent a day in the Tri-Cities learning the history of marginalized populations, meeting with community members, and learning about ongoing issues that have been ignored over time in east Pasco.

The course began as an idea proposed in 2022 by ���سԹ� College of Arts and Sciences Professor Robert Franklin in partnership with WSU Pullman School of Design and Construction Professor Phil Gruen.

“[This class] represents the strengths that we don’t always utilize as a land grant institution: the communities that our campuses are in and the ‘town-gown’ relationships we have,” said Franklin.

Franklin chose Pasco as the focus of the course partly due to his involvement��with the , a National Park Service-funded program that documents the history of the mid-Columbia region. East of US Highway 395, the city remains unofficially segregated between east and west, so students could easily examine the role that Pasco’s infrastructure has played in discrimination.

The historically marginalized area of east Pasco, initially reserved for non-white railroad workers and those who couldn’t find housing on the Hanford Site during WWII, faced neglect and discrimination, becoming a focal point of civil rights activism in the Tri-Cities. East Pasco remains the most disadvantaged area in the Tri-Cities, highlighted by the Justice 40 Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool, with significant socioeconomic challenges, including high rates of unemployment and low educational attainment. This area continues to face underfunding and underdevelopment, perpetuating its reputation as a marginalized community.

The concepts learned in the classroom and on the trip were applied to semester-long projects. Each project is intended to bring east Pasco’s lesser-known histories to light and additional resources into a community that has suffered from disinvestment, neglect, and discrimination. Students worked collaboratively on one of four different projects:

• A digital walking tour of east Pasco, with drawings and maps that identify sites of historical and community significance.

• Historical essays for the Hanford History Project, highlighting marginalized people, places, and stories of east Pasco that were previously unresearched and untold.

• Design proposals, including digital renderings, plans, sections, and elevations, for new buildings and landscapes that address community needs in east Pasco.
• A story map, using geographic information systems (GIS) software, which places stories of significance in east Pasco within the broader history of the Tri-Cities region.

Alison Fellman, hailing from Kennewick, said that her perception of Pasco changed after participating in the tour. “When I’m asked where I’m from, I tend to just say ‘the Tri-Cities.’ They have always felt inseparable to me… On the tour, however, seeing Pasco through the eyes of my classmates and listening to Pasco natives made my memories as a Tri-Citian finally merge with how I understood this place as a history student.” Fellman noted that objectively knowing that history exists in a place and seeing it are two different things.�� “I have a new appreciation for Pasco and the importance of telling its history; it is no longer just a proximal place,” she said.

Before the study tour, Rae Hendricks, an architecture student originally from Richland, said she hadn’t connected the dots between the racial history of the Tri-Cities and modern architecture.

“As a future architecture professional, I hope to be the type of person who can eloquently speak about important topics that other people may be inclined to ignore due to their sensitive nature,” she said.

The students conducted a virtual presentation on April 12 to allow the community to provide input on the progress of each project. Franklin explained that this maintained the course’s priority of a “bottom-up” approach of listening to and learning from the community, rather than a “top-down” approach where faculty dictate every measure of course content.

Course preparations and travel were funded primarily by the WSU Transformational Change Initiative-Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Access (TCI-IDEA) grant Franklin and Gruen received last spring. Additional funding and support were provided by the WSU Center for Civic Engagement, the WSU School of Design and Construction, and ALSC Architects in Spokane.

At the completion of the course, the digital walking tour, essays, and story map will be unveiled on the National Park Service app and website for public use.

Students presented a range of research and course projects as part of the Washington State University Tri-Cities Showcase for Research and Creative Activities, on Wednesday.

The showcase gives students the opportunity to display and discuss the research and projects they have been working on and helps them practice skills they will use in their professional careers.

More than 45 projects were on display representing graduate and undergraduate students as well as the ���سԹ� Clean Energy Ambassadors Network (CEAN) teams. ��CEAN incorporates student teams working with WSU faculty, industry mentors and their peers to research clean energy and climate related topics, potential impacts on disadvantaged populations and ways to share their findings with their community.

The following projects received awards:

• Best Capstone in Electrical Engineering or Computer Science
  Automated Toolbox Inventory Control System, Reem Osman, Steven Pixler, Caitlyn Powers, Navin Sabandith, Caleb Thomas

 

• Best Capstone in Mechanical or Civil Engineering
  Solar Powered Refrigeration System for Milk Transport, Josh Romero, Erick Martinez, Marcos Salas, Pascal Elsinghorst

 

• Best Creative Project
  The Cloud, Emily Sierra

 

• Best Undergraduate Project in Life, Biological, or Food Sciences
  Artificial light at night (ALAN) and bird-window collisions on the WSUTC campus, Nelly Pacheco

 

• Best Undergraduate Project in Physical, Computer, or Engineering Sciences
  Low-Power Cooling System Redesign, Jacob Getchell

 

• Best Graduate Project: (Tie)
  1. Effect of harvest time, alcohol concentration and maceration time on wine and grape phenolic composition and astringency perception – Juliana Pazos
  2. Comparison of Freeze-Killed versus Freeze-Dried Leaves for the Production of Frost Tainted Cabernet Sauvignon Wines – Mitchell Davey

 

CEAN Projects:

First Place – Flowing Forward: Innovations in Efficiency for Archimedes Screw Generators
Raul Aguilera-Vazquez, Edgar Bustamante-Angel, Leo Gomez & Noel Saldana
Industry Mentors: Gary Spanner, Adrianna Miller (1st Washington), Noel Schulz (WSU/PNNL)

Second Place – Clearing the Air: Exploring Direct Air Carbon Capture and Storage in Eastern Washington
Student Ambassador Team: Sara Christensen, Elise Colson, Bailee Fehringer & Kalimae Mountain Industry Mentors: Todd Schaef (PNNL), David Heldebrant (PNNL), Jillian Cadwell (���سԹ�)

��Co-Third Place:

1. Powering the University, Empowering the Community: A Campus Microgrid for Renewable Energy Generation and Education
   Student Ambassador Team: Asmita Acharya, Laurren Nirider, Nur Syeda & Manuella Tossa, Dae Ya Wah
   Industry Mentors: Noel Schulz (WSU/PNNL)
2. Harnessing Energy Potential: Molten Salt
   Student Ambassador Team: Jordy Bautista, Jackie Figueroa, Rebecca Negrete-Ramos, Jose Vargas
   Industry Mentors: Tim Nies (Energy Northwest), Suh-Jane Lee (���سԹ�)

Judges for the Research and Creative projects included ���سԹ� faculty and The CEAN posters were judged by the Tri-Cities Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the ���سԹ� Entrepreneur in Residence/Innovation Lab.

Many project ideas come from local business partners such as Bechtel, and Washington River Protection Solutions who have problems they are attempting to solve or are looking for alternative or more cost-effective solutions. In some cases, the student’s work is adopted and implemented by the sponsoring company, giving students hands-on experience developing real-world solutions that make a difference.

By Seth Truscott

Collaborating with European scientists to develop ideas, fuels, and products that solve global environmental and energy challenges, Washington State University Professor Bin Yang is headed to Toulouse, France, as the newly announced recipient of the Fulbright-Tocqueville Distinguished Chair Award.

The award will fuel Yang’s work alongside colleagues at the Toulouse Biotechnology Institute, INSA Toulouse, expanding international partnerships for development of global decarbonization and biofuels and bioproducts production.

“I am grateful to the Fulbright Program for allowing me to expand on ideas and broaden ties between Washington state, the U.S., and France,” said Yang, a professor at WSU’s��. “It’s a great honor to work with European leaders in technology and sustainability at Toulouse and other partner institutions.”

The six-month exchange begins in spring 2025 and builds on existing collaboration between Yang and scientists at Toulouse, part of the France’s����(��������).

Working with European colleagues in the bioeconomy—economic areas embracing technologies like biomass to produce fuels and chemicals—Yang seeks to make advances in energy and sustainability while promoting WSU research to the international scientific community.

“Innovating together is the key to a better future for the world,” he said. “My ultimate goal is to develop a roadmap for the decarbonization of the bioeconomy between the United States and France, as well as the manufacture of products that serve the visions and goals of both countries.”

Yang’s laboratory at�����سԹ���focuses on development of renewable energy technologies, with an emphasis on production of biofuels and chemicals from cellulosic biomass: plant materials grown as crops or harvested as agricultural waste. He recently pioneered new pretreatment and manufacturing technologies to process biomass into jet fuel, bioplastics, carbon fiber, hydrogen carriers, and other bioproducts.

This is Yang’s second Fulbright Distinguished Chair award. In 2019, he traveled to Helsinki, Finland, as the first professor at WSU to be selected for the Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Energy and Sustainable Use of Natural Resources Award.

“Bin Yang’s accomplishments have made him an international leader for development of the bioeconomy,” said Jean Marie François, professor of industrial microbiology and bio-nanotechnology and Yang’s host at Federal University Toulouse. “Recent awards recognize his pioneering contributions to the next generation biorefinery, sustainability, and green technologies that can overcome climate change. His upcoming visit is a great opportunity for students in our biochemical engineering and international master in bioeconomy programs and will significantly improve cooperation between our two institutions.”

The Fulbright Program awards distinguished chairs to renowned scholars set apart by significant experience and extensive publications in their fields. Yang is the first professor at WSU to receive the Fulbright-Tocqueville Distinguished Chair Award.

The most prestigious award offered by the Fulbright France bilateral program, this distinguished chair was created in 2005 to mark Senator J. William Fulbright’s centennial and Alexis de Tocqueville’s bicentennial. Funded by the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research and the Fulbright Program, it reinforces collaborative research between France and the United States on topics of major significance for the future of both societies.

• Contact: Bin Yang, Professor, Department of Biological Systems Engineering, (509) 372-7640,��bin.yang@wsu.edu

By Angela Sams

Charity Maosah’s passion for agriculture and food science stems from an inquisitive personality and a childhood spent on her family’s farm in Kenya.

“My interest in food science is influenced by my upbringing,” said Maosah, who will graduate from Washington State University with a master’s degree in food science this fall.

“Everything we ate came from our farm, and it made me wonder why others were buying food while we were eating what we grew,” she said. “I developed an interest in science and agriculture when I was very young.”

As a child, Maosah pondered why certain foods are prepared in specific ways.

“I used to ask my parents a lot of questions,” she said. “I wondered why we eat certain foods, and why we process some foods before eating them. My interest developed more as time went by.”

That curiosity persisted through high school, where Maosah continued learning in her science and agriculture classes. At college, she was at first uncertain about what course of study to pursue, though she knew she wanted a degree that encompassed mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology, and agriculture.

“That’s when my sister suggested food science,” Maosah said. “I hadn’t heard of the subject before, but after taking some courses, I realized it was the right field for me.”

She earned a bachelor’s degree in food science and technology from Dedan Kimathi University of Technology in Nyeri, Kenya, then relocated to the U.S. to attend Youngstown State University in Ohio, receiving a master’s degree in biochemistry in May 2021.

Originally looking to begin a PhD that same year, Maosah applied to several universities. Her interest was piqued by the food chemistry research happening at WSU.

“I was reading about different WSU professors and came across Dr. Tom Collins,” Maosah said. “The first thing that popped up was grape and wine chemistry. At first, I didn’t know if his lab accepted food science students. But after interviewing with him, I knew I wanted to get involved.”

Maosah is now a member of Collins’ lab in the����on the ���سԹ� campus. She studies how reverse osmosis, immobilized enzymes, and absorptive activated carbon can reduce smoke-related volatile phenols and phenol glycosides in wine, making the product palatable even after grapes have been affected by wildfire smoke.

In her role as a WSU research assistant, Maosah participates in grape smoke exposure trials and grape harvesting, helping create the research wines that her team uses.

Her work is especially important amid a changing climate and increase in wildfires.

“If this project is successful, we won’t have to worry so much about climate change’s impact on foods,” Maosah said. “We’ll have a technique that helps solve the smoke issue in wine, and eventually other food industries affected by wildfires may be able to use the same techniques.”

“Charity’s work offers some real promise,” added Collins,��. “It looks at new ways to use reverse osmosis and other tools to diminish the impact of smoke exposure on wine quality.”

Maosah was initially surprised by the complexities of grapes and wine.

“Before coming to WSU, I didn’t know much about them,” she said. “I’ve expanded my grape and wine chemistry knowledge by learning more about the complexity of the phenolics involved. There’s so much more to it than what you see on the shelf.”

After graduating, Maosah plans to gain industry experience related to quality assurance, food safety, food toxicology, and food chemistry. She hopes to return to WSU to continue her study of grapes and wine while pursuing a food science doctorate.

“I feel prepared to go out into the industry, and I’ve had a great experience at WSU,” Maosah said. “It has exposed me to a wide range of research skills including smoke exposure trials and design and the use of analytical tools. I am also greatly indebted to Dr. Collins for the opportunity to work with his research team. He is an excellent advisor, leader, friend, and mentor who is always ready to help.”

Eventually, Maosah plans to make her way back home to begin a career in academia.

“When I was first studying food science in Kenya, many people there were less informed about it as a career,” Maosah said. “I would like to return and give back by helping younger scientists.”

By Lacey Desserault

A fellowship program is providing opportunities for computational engineering, math, and science students from across the Washington State University system to study and research in Sweden over a three-year span. Two students from ���سԹ� were selected as part of this year’s cohort and will depart at the beginning of the fall 2024 semester.����

The STARS.Se Program, or Student Training and Research Semester in Sweden, was formed out of a partnership between WSU and the US National Science Foundation’s International Research Experiences for Students initiative (IRES). The program allows students to become globally educated for international leadership in applied engineering and science computing. Selected students take classes and participate in research with advanced equipment at Linköping University (LiU) in Linköping, Sweden for one semester. The current research supports the international development of Boeing’s and Saab’s new T-7A Red Hawk training aircraft, designed as an advanced pilot training system for the US Air Force.��

�����سԹ� students Christian Penick and Scarlett Reagan will join five students from other WSU campuses to study in Sweden this fall.��

“I decided to apply for the program because I knew it would strengthen my academic portfolio and I would enjoy exploring Sweden,” said Penick. “I always hear about students travelling abroad or coming to the US as exchange students, so I feel like being a part of this exchange program rounds out my college experience. I look forward to using the supercomputers to speed computations and learning how to model physical systems with software.”����

The fellowship provides each student with $12,000, does not require them to pay tuition in Sweden, and allows each student to transfer credits back to WSU and graduate on time. The students from WSU will work collaboratively with students from LiU, who will also participate in an exchange semester at WSU.��

Prior participant testimonials expressed that this opportunity allowed them to travel the world and led them to making strong global engineering connections.����

“The overarching objective of the STARS program is to contribute to educating diverse internationally minded students for leadership in globalized multicultural societies,” said Joseph Iannelli, professor of mechanical engineering in the WSU School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. “The program offers $12,000 fellowships to remove financial barriers for students who long for international experiences. Based on their compelling applications, these brilliant computer science students look forward to studying and conducting research overseas and will become excellent ambassadors for ���سԹ� in Sweden. Together with students from Vancouver and Pullman they will advance internationally the ideal of ‘One WSU’.”��

By Leslie Streeter

Washington State University (WSU) Tri-Cities will team up with three universities to implement a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded project to support minoritized women students in STEM through a co-mentoring network called WiSEN (Women in STEM Education Network).

Jillian Cadwell, research associate at ���سԹ� will work alongside project leads from Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and sub-awardees from Gonzaga University and University of Montana. The nearly $600,000 award from the NSF will be used to create a network model to connect women in STEM students.

“Research shows that mentoring is a successful and vital means to support and retain women in STEM fields,” said Cadwell.

As a research associate in the WSU School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and a member of the C-Y-F, an international, informal co-mentoring network for women faculty/researchers in academia, Cadwell knows the impact that mentoring can have on women in STEM.

“This could change the trajectory for institutions to improve equality in STEM and the way we are supporting women students,” said Cadwell. “That’s what is most exciting to me.”

The shared vision for WiSEN is to support women in STEM majors by providing a platform for connections. The group aims to celebrate cultural wealth, shared leadership, career-connected mentoring and recovery from the impact of COVID disruptions.

To be eligible for WiSEN students must be enrolled as a part or full-time, undergraduate or graduate student; pursuing a field of study that falls under a STEM major; and self-identify as a “woman”.

A unique feature of the project is that each aspect will be designed and implemented by women with the same or similar minoritized backgrounds as the students. Cadwell and the other project leads are faculty researchers and mentors, and their backgrounds are inclusive of Afro-Caribbean, European American, and Asian immigrants, giving them particular insight into the challenges faced by minoritized women.

The WiSEN co-mentoring network strategy will be informed by research on innovative mentoring models alongside the experiences and expressed needs of culturally unique and experientially diverse undergraduate and graduate students (student fellows) across the four institutions. As the WiSEN model is piloted, research data gathered will help develop best practices for mentoring minoritized women in STEM. After the two-year pilot the team will seek additional funding to expand the program to more universities.

The WiSEN program will also collaborate with Million Women Mentors, for which Cadwell is the Washington state co-chair. The partnership will help expand access to a national network of students, faculty, and corporate partners and help increase STEM networks.

Each partner university will have a WiSEN group with eight spots available for women in STEM students. The WiSEN group on the ���سԹ� campus currently has a waiting list.

By Seth Truscott

Creating plant-based fuels that are easier on the environment and the pocketbook, Washington State University Professor Bin Yang makes a positive impact through chemical engineering.

Yang is now one of the newest Fellows of the����(AIChE), a professional society of more than 60,000 scientists in 110 countries. He will be honored at the institute’s��, Nov. 5-10, 2023, at Orlando, Fla.

“I take nature as my inspiration,” said Yang, who works to understand and develop advanced biofuels and bioproducts from plant biomass—crops and plant residue used to create energy—while sharing knowledge and training the next generation of scientists.

“My ultimate goal is a real sustainability revolution,” he said. “I’m working to develop sustainable low-carbon fuels that reduce climate change.”

Fellow is the highest grade of membership in the institute, which fosters exchange on the frontiers of research in energy, sustainability, nanotechnology, and chemical plant safety and security. Fellows provide guidance and contribute to activities aiding development of safe and useful products for the benefit of society.

“I’m humbled and deeply grateful for this award,” said Yang, who thanked peers and colleagues who supported his nomination.

Involved with AIChE for the past 20 years, he has been a volunteer leader, organizing topical sessions and serving as a session chair. He is one of three WSU scientists to be named Fellows of the Institute. Yong Wang and Richard Zollars, faculty in the Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture, were previously named Fellows.

Developing new and sustainable fuels and products from biomass, Professor Bin Yang works with members of his lab at ���سԹ�.

Based at ���سԹ� for over a decade and a member of of the��, Yang has pioneered new technologies to process biomass into jet fuel, bioplastics, carbon fiber, supercapacitors, hydrogen carriers, and other bioproducts.

“Biofuels and bioproducts play a crucial role in decarbonization efforts by promoting sustainable alternatives to fossil-based products and processes,” Yang said. “Innovation is key to achieving a sustainable future for the world.”

A member of the university’s Bioproducts, Sciences and Engineering Laboratory (BSEL), Yang also studies how microbes can produce a biodegradable plastic. He was a 2019 Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Energy and Sustainable Use of Natural Resources; holds six patents; has authored more than 135 papers and book chapters; and serves as an editorial and advisory board member for leading biorefinery journals.

Learn more about Yang’s work at his��.