Lydia Rachbauer wins the Berkeley Lab Research SLAM

Lydia Rachbauer, a postdoctoral researcher at the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) and in the Biosciences Area’s Biological Systems and Engineering Division won first place and a $3,000 prize in the Berkeley Lab Research SLAM competition on September 23, 2021. Rachbauer’s winning three-minute presentation detailed her research on utilizing the microbes found in fish guts to convert seaweed into sustainable biofuels. 

In its fourth year, the Berkeley Lab Research SLAM challenges early career researchers to present a brief, compelling, and plain language presentation. Twelve finalists are selected from entries across Berkeley Lab Research Areas. The Biosciences Area was well-represented in this year’s competition with three additional finalists from the DOE Joint Genome Institute (JGI): Margot Bezrutczyk, Maria Dzunkova, and Krishnakumar Vasudevan.

As one of the top-3 finalists, Rachbauer will also represent Berkeley Lab in the inaugural regional Bay Area SLAM, competing against the finalists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, and SLAC National Laboratory.