Biotechnology for Biofuels welcomes Professor Debra Mohnen (University of Georgia) as a new Editor-in-Chief, joining Charles Wyman, Bärbel Hahn-Hägerdal and Mike Himmel at the helm. Debra becomes a successor to Chris Somerville, amongst the four Editors-in-Chief, in leading the way for plant science within the journal and providing complimentary expertise to her co-editors.

Debra’s research focuses on pectin biosynthesis and pectin function in plants and on the improvement of plant cell wall structure to increase the efficiency of conversion of plant wall biomass to biofuels. As a rising star in complex carbohydrate research, Debra received an NIH National Research Service Award before her appointment to a faculty position at the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center at UGA, where she is now Professor of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. In addition to her own research, Debra is Activity Lead in Plant Cell Wall Biosynthesis Research and Focus Area Lead in Plant Biomass in the DOE-funded BioEnergy Science Center (BESC). She serves on scientific advisory boards for multiple bioenergy centers.

Our welcome to Debra comes alongside more good news for Biotechnology for  Biofuels. The impressive first Impact Factor that we received last year has just increased to 4.15, based upon citations to the journal during 2010. A clear winner in providing open access to biofuels research, the journal also ranks 2nd of 48 journals in the Energy category of the SCImago journal rankings (SJR) and 1st of 79 journals in Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law