Unexpected Pairings Week 5: Resources
February 21, 2026
001 Chemical and Biomedical Engineering Building
11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
"What do plant cell walls look like, and what can we make from them?"
Presented by Charlie Anderson, professor of biology
Plant cell walls are the most abundant biological resource on our planet, and we have used them for thousands of years to produce energy, clothing, shelter, and food. However, the structural complexity of plant cell walls means that we still don’t know exactly what they look like at the molecular level or how they are assembled and modified during plant growth. Recent advances in microscopy, genetics, biochemistry, and materials science are allowing us to gain new glimpses into the structure and dynamics of plant cell walls and enabling us to create new high-performance materials from them. In this talk, Anderson will discuss how deeper understanding and smart uses of plant cell walls can help support the bioeconomy in Pennsylvania and beyond.
Speaker Bio:
Charles T. Anderson is professor and associate head for research and faculty success in the Department of Biology at Penn State. He completed an undergraduate degree in biology with honors at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After completing a doctoral degree in cell and molecular biology at Stanford University, he became interested in using genetics and cell biology to support sustainability for people and the planet. He completed postdoctoral research at the Energy Biosciences Institute at the University of California Berkeley, analyzing the genes and processes that underpin cell wall expansion in plants. His research group at Penn State uses advanced microscopy, cell biology, molecular genetics, and biochemistry to investigate the dynamics of plant cell walls with the goal of informing efforts to sustainably produce energy, food, and biomaterials from plants. He received the Distinguished Service Award from the Eberly College of Science in 2024 and is an Institute for Energy and the Environment Fellow. Anderson also chairs the Plant Biology Intercollege Graduate Degree Program, serves as the theme lead for Climate and Natural Systems in the Institute for Energy and the Environment, and co-directs Penn State’s Center for Biorenewables.
"Mining and separating rare earth elements using proteins"
Presented by Joey Cotruvo, professor of chemistry
At the nexus of technology and geopolitics, rare earth elements (REEs) have made the news almost daily over the past year. What are they, why are they so important, and why are we so concerned about how we get them? Can Nature teach us a different way forward? Scientists only recently discovered that certain microbes are able to take up and use REEs for essential cellular reactions. Cotruvo’s research group has been discovering and understanding the molecules involved in these processes for clues as to how we can engineer them into technologies, which are being explored commercially, for biomining REEs. The talk will address what all the recent attention on REEs is about and how biotechnology may help ensure a sustainable supply of REEs for the 21st century and beyond.
Speaker Bio:
Joseph Cotruvo, Jr. is a professor of chemistry at Penn State. He graduated with an A.B. from Princeton University in 2006. He earned a doctoral degree in biological chemistry in 2012 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he studied how a key enzyme in pathogenic bacteria substitutes iron with manganese to help the pathogen survive the immune system. Cotruvo was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California Berkeley as a Jane Coffin Childs Fellow, studying the role of copper in regulating fat metabolism. He began his independent career as an assistant professor and Louis Martarano Career Development Professor at Penn State in 2016, being promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2022 and to full professor in 2024. His laboratory works to understand how biological systems achieve selective recognition of metal ions and to develop biotechnologies for sensing, recovery, and separation of valuable metals, especially rare earth elements. The fundamental discoveries and translational impact of Cotruvo’s work have been honored with several national and international awards, including Penn State’s Faculty Scholar Medal in Life and Health Sciences in 2025, and intellectual property generated in his laboratory has been licensed by multiple startup companies.