Recalcitrant forms of biomass are not ideal for biological conversion into platform chemicals, and therefore our lab is interested in the syngas platform as a pretreatment step to generate synthesis gas (syngas, which consists of mainly carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and carbon dioxide). This syngas is efficiently converted by fermentating bacteria, such as Clostridium sp.. We are working within this anaerobic fermentation research area to optimize fermentors and syngas delivery, isolate new bacterial strains, and upgrade chemicals. Our lab works with Cornell University collaborators, including Johannes Lehmann (PI), to develop a syngas platform to generate biochar and ethanol or n-butanol in Kenya and at the Cornell campus. We are building a pilot-scale slow pyrolysis at the Cornell University campus.