Liz Ware has been a staff research chemist at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory since 2016. Her research is focused on understanding lignocellulosic biomass cell wall composition and thermochemical conversion of biomass. She also specializes in the development of high-throughput analytical platforms. Ware said that during her ECD participation she enjoyed seeing how the leadership and management teams within CBI plan and prioritize work from a high level.
“That experience has been extremely helpful in understanding how our teams and science are integrated and has helped me to better formulate new ideas for future scientific endeavors,” she said. “I feel more comfortable communicating with leadership now because I got the chance to talk to them on a regular basis in small group settings.”
On the research side, CBI has influenced the direction of her research as it has encouraged her to be more comprehensive in biomass analysis and also towards understanding the origin of changes and trends seen in the data.
Her advice for young scientists in the bioenergy field? “It helps to understand a little bit about everything from biology to plants to chemistry, engineering, economics, ecology and more, so that you have a big picture idea of what it will take to make bioenergy feasible.”