Berkeley Lab SLAM Recap
Anne Villacastin placed first and was also selected as People’s Choice in the Berkeley Lab Research SLAM competition on September 21, 2023. Villacastin, a postdoctoral researcher in the Feedstocks Division, detailed her research on sorghum’s potential as a biomanufacturing feedstock.
In its sixth year, the SLAM challenges early career researchers to tell the story of their research to a general audience in just three minutes. Twelve finalists are selected from entries across Berkeley Lab Research Areas. (recording)
Bay Area Research SLAM Recap
The top-three finalists from SLAM events at all four Bay Area National Labs – Berkeley Lab, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, and SLAC National Laboratory – competed at the Bay Area Research SLAM on October 5, 2023.
In addition to Anne, JBEI was also represented by Valentina Garcia, a Sandia-based postdoctoral fellow in the Deconstruction Division. Garcia placed second in the Sandia Technical Showcase with her talk “Taking Off Fueled by Biology: Using Yeast to Make Sustainable Aviation Fuels.”
Anne again placed first and was also selected as People’s Choice!
National Lab Research SLAM Recap
Anne Villacastin was selected as Berkeley Lab’s representative to compete at the National Lab Research SLAM. The November 15th event was a first-of-its-kind collaboration among all 17 U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Labs and was sponsored by the House Science & National Labs Caucus and the Senate National Labs Caucus.
The NLR SLAM contestants arrived in Washington DC early in the week to receive additional coaching, practice talks, and get to know each other. In between practice sessions, Anne and her fellow competitors, also had the opportunity to tour the Capitol and meet with members of Congress!
Learn more about Anne’s research breakthroughs that can make sorghum a drought resistant feedstock for creating biofuels in this Behind the Breakthroughs video.
If you missed National Lab Research SLAM , you can access the replay here.