Fred C. Davison Early Career Scholar Award

Breeanna “Bree” Urbanowicz, assistant professor in the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, has made critical contributions to plant cell wall research. The plant cell wall is one of the most abundant sources of renewable materials available for producing biobased fuels and other bioproducts. Urbanowicz synthesizes innovative, cutting-edge theories of how plants grow and develop and employs state-of-the-art techniques to address her biological questions. She uses a unique combination of plant molecular biology and biochemical analytical techniques, providing fundamental information on cell wall structure and synthesis. Her publication record is outstanding and accelerating, and studies from her lab have recently been published in major journals in her field. Beyond her accomplishments in fundamental scientific research, she is spearheading the development of enabling technologies that could open the door to creating more new materials and energy from wood and other sustainable resources.