iSEE Congress
The Congress is an assembly of the world’s leading scientists, researchers, educators, and activists from different disciplines who focus on global challenges of sustainability, energy generation and conservation, and the environment. Through expert presentations on the latest scientific research and community actions, attendees gain an understanding of the most up-to-date knowledge in these areas — and the directions for future research, actions, and policy frameworks that could contribute to long-term breakthroughs.
Each Congress provides a forum to not only discuss global challenges, but also highlight an agenda for actionable research. By bringing together local, national, and international experts — from academia, industry, governments, and NGOs — iSEE is fostering new research collaborations across disciplines and across continents.
This free public event is open to everyone — students, staff, faculty, community members, and beyond. Participants may choose to attend multiple parts of Congress, or just one.
iSEE Congress 2025:
A Circular Bioeconomy as a Path to Net-Zero
September 25-26, 2025
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
#iSEECongress2025
About the Congress
The topic for the 2025 iSEE Congress is “A Circular Bioeconomy as a path to net-zero.” A circular bioeconomy offers opportunities to innovatively use organic resources to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, support domestic agriculture, and promote economic growth while reducing environmental harm. It supports efficient, market-driven solutions in food and consumer product systems to drive innovation with the goal of increasing resource efficiency, reducing and recycling waste to reduce reliance on foreign energy and mitigating climate change. We envision each panel covering a different facet of circularity relevant to society at large—food systems, energy systems, plastics, and carbon capture and sequestration. The panelists will highlight the current state of the research, technology, and policy in these areas while showcasing current progress and ongoing activities bringing each system closer to net-zero carbon.
Organizers
This year’s organizing committee includes Gal Hochman, Professor of Environmental and Resource Economics; Jeremy Guest, Levenick Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering; Kevin O’Brien, Director of the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center and Founding Director of the Prairie Research Institute Net-Zero Center of Excellence; Yong-Su Jin, Professor of Food Microbiology; Andrew Leakey, Professor of Plant Biology; Roland Cusick, Associate Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering; Vijay Singh, Distinguished Professor of Bioprocessing and Director of the Integrated Bioprocessing Research Laboratory; and Becca Taylor, Assistant Professor of Agricultural & Consumer Economics.
Agenda
Thursday, September 25, 2025 (Day 1)
NCSA Auditorium (1205 W Clark St, Urbana, IL)
○ 5:00 p.m. — Welcome and Introduction to the iSEE Congress
5:10 p.m. — Keynote Address and Q&A
Korneel Rabaey, Department of Biotechnology, Ghent University
○ 6:15 p.m. — Reception
Friday, September 26, 2025 (Day 2)
Illini Union (1401 W Green St, Urbana, IL)
8:00 a.m. — Welcome and Opening Remarks
Madhu Khanna, iSEE Director
Luis F. Rodríguez, iSEE Associate Director for Education & Outreach
8:20 a.m. — Panel 1: Zero Waste Food Systems as a Mechanism to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Focus Statement: Capturing and processing or eliminating organic waste streams has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by avoiding the degradation of materials in the environment. Further it avoids wasteful use of resources via production and loss.
Moderator: R.D. Cusick – Civil and Environmental Engineering
Panelists:
- Yong-Su Jin, Food Science & Human Nutrition, Illinois, “Use of Precision Fermentation to Increase Efficiency of Food Production”
- Brian Roe, Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics, The Ohio State University, “Mitigating Consumer Food Waste”
- Gal Hochman, Agricultural and Consumer Economics, Illinois, “An Economic Perspective of the Circular Bioeconomy in the Food and Agricultural Sector”
- Ning Ai, Urban Planning and Policy, University of Illinois Chicago, “The Good and Bad Regarding Sustainability of Urban Food Recovery Programs”
10:00 a.m. — Panel 2: Decarbonizing Energy Systems: Technology and Policy Pathways
Focus Statement: Extraction, processing, distribution, and use of fossil fuels has left a massive carbon footprint upon our environment. Shifting our feedstocks, practices, and uses can change this paradigm for the benefit of our society and environment.
Moderator: Gal Hochman – Agricultural and Consumer Economics
Panelists:
- David Zilberman, Agricultural and Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, “Economics of Bioenergy”
- Andrew Leakey, Plant Biology, Illinois, “A Bioeconomy Fueled by Oily Plants”
- Vijay Singh, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Illinois, “Catalyzing the Development of Innovative Bioprocessing Technology”
- Alyssa Norris, Director of Sustainability, Aether Fuels (invited)
11:45 a.m. — Lunch with 2nd Keynote Address and Q&A
Jim Lane, Editor & Publisher, The Daily Digest and The Circular
1:15 p.m. — Panel 3: Envisioning a Circular Economy in Plastics and Transition to Biomaterials and Biochemicals
Focus Statement: The ubiquitous nature of plastics in today’s economy and their persistence throughout our environments makes them a target for reduction and removal. How does policy and practice lead to externalities linked to today’s plastics? Can alternative feedstocks replace fossil fuels in the plastic economy?
Moderator: tbd
Panelists:
- Becca Taylor, Agricultural and Consumer Economics, Illinois, “How Economic Policy can Drive Consumer Behavior Toward Single-use Plastics”
- Joseph Klatt, Marble Plastics, “Upcycling Plastic Waste into New Consumer Products”
- Erin Webb, Circular Bioeconomy Systems Convergent Research Initiative, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, “Decarbonizing Auto Manufacturing in Tennessee”
- Miranda Wang, Novoloop Lifecycling (invited)
2:45 p.m. — Panel 4: Carbon Reduction Strategies for a Net Zero Economy
Focus Statement: Addressing climate change may be best addressed by focusing on the most demonstrable symptom of the problem—carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. Can they be removed and stored permanently? Where can they be stored? Or can excess greenhouse gasses be captured and used to create other products?
Moderator: tbd
Panelists:
- Emily Heaton, Crop Sciences, Illinois, “Expanded Growth of Perennial Grasses can Help Soak Up Carbon”
- Michael Köpke, LanzaTech, “Pollution to Products: Recycling of ‘Above Ground’ Carbon by Gas Fermentation”
- Steve Lewis, Vice President Technology and Innovation, POET, “Strategies to achieve Zero-Carbon Bioproducts”
- Jim Spaeth, Independent Sustainable Fuels Consultant, formerly BETO (invited)
○ 4:15 p.m. — Wrap-up