Dr. Paul J Weimer is an Associate Professor Emeritus at the Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin–Madison. He received his Master’s degree at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1975 and completed his PhD studies at the same University in 1978. He has over forty years of experience in government, industrial, and academic laboratories in the area of microbiology, biochemistry, and metabolism of strictly anaerobic bacteria, with an emphasis on cellulose biodegradation; anaerobic culture and bioreactor methods; biomass fermentations into fuels and chemicals (particularly the carboxylate platform for organic acid synthesis); and ruminal microbial ecology and its relationship with dairy production.