Dr. Brett Savary, Protein Chemistry, College of Agriculture and Technology/ABI, and Dr. Prasanna Vasu, Biochemical Technology, College of Agriculture and Technology/ABI, recently presented a co-authored research paper, "Characterization of a thermally-tolerant pectin esterase for plant biomass processing and structure modification" at the 32nd Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals held in Clearwater Beach, Fla. The paper reviewed progress on evaluating the utility of an enzyme with novel properties for treating plant material for biofuels production and value-added products. Drs. Savary and Vasu also visited Winter Haven, Fla., to give talks at the United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Center (USDA-ARS) Citrus and Subtropical Products Laboratory. Dr. Vasu presented recent progress on the preparation of a papaya pectin methylesterase from a commercial enzyme product. This work is part of a United States Department of Agriculture Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service National Research Initiative (USDA-CSREES-NRI) competitive grant on Improving Food Quality and Utilization. Drs. Vasu and Savary serve as co-investigators with USDA scientists at that location. Dr. Savary presented an overview of the MidSouth/Southeast Bioenergy Consortium, a research program in ASU's College of Agriculture and Technology sponsored by the United States Department of Energy (US DOE) Biomass program. The program includes co-operators at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville and the University of Georgia-Athens. ASU's program objective is to develop economically viable and environmentally sustainable bioenergy systems for the Arkansas Delta Region. Other ASU faculty leading projects include Dr. Jennifer Bouldin, director, Ecotoxicology Research Facility, Dr. Steve Green, Soil and Water Conservation, Dr. Kevin Humphrey, Agricultural Education, and Dr.Jianfeng (Jay) Xu, Biochemical Engineering, College of Agriculture and Technology/ABI.