A chemical found naturally in grapes may provide a new source of income for Wisconsin farmers and a new value-added export for the state. A collaborative project that draws on the fermentation and chemical analyses expertise of WIST, the local agricultural knowledge of Okray's Plover Farms and the viticulture experience of California wine producer Terra Spase is testing possibilities of producing the chemical in cold-climate tolerant grapes.

Read more about the project in this Stevens Point Journal article

The five-day course aims to familiarize participants with the integrated, interdisciplinary approach required in modern biotechnology. This course will be team-taught by microbial physiologists, biochemical engineers and bio-entrepreneurs from UW-Stevens Point faculty and staff, together with invited experts from other universities and industry. These accomplished instructors will cover a combination of theoretical and practical work, resulting in an intensive and in-depth treatment of the subject of conversion of biomass to bioproducts. At the same time, the course provides the necessary link between, on one hand, fundamental subjects (e.g. microbial physiology/genetic engineering) and, on the other hand, practical applications in large-scale biotechnological processes. 

The course will be taught at UW-Stevens Point August 24-28. Early registration through August 3 is $2,720; that's a savings of 20 percent off the regular course fee of $3,400.

Detailed information about the course is on our website

Register online here