by Kimberly N. Chase
- USA -

• In Louisiana, the race is on to bring cellulosic ethanol, produced on this farm from sugar cane, to the consumer market. Photograph courtesy of Kimberly N. Chase. •

Cellulose is much harder to break down than ethanol from food crops, and companies are using industrial enzymes followed by fermentation with microbes to arrive at a final product. None of the dozen or so companies in the running has reached commercial scale yet, but the race is certainly on.

by Kimberly N. Chase
- USA -

After hearing the family history of her adventurous great-grandmother, a free African American woman who lived in New Orleans during the Civil War, community activist Pam Dashiell knew she wanted to live in the legendary southern city.

• Community activist Pam Dashiell doesn't flinch in the face of New Orleans' challenges. Photograph courtesy of Kimberly Chase. •

Three generations later, Dashiell brought her family history full circle. Since moving from Massachusetts, she has come to call New Orleans home, and is now a well-known organizer; Dashiell's work in the Holy Cross neighborhood in the city's Lower Ninth Ward took on added urgency after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Trying to bring the area back to life, she now helps evacuated families decide whether they can make the move back to their city and rebuild their homes.