This issue of BioEnergy Research highlights the Short Rotation Crops International Conference held in Bloomington, Minnesota in August 2008. This is the first special issue of BioEnergy Research, with several additional special issues planned in the next year, focused on the three U.S. Department of Energy Bioenergy Research Centers (Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, BioEnergy Science Center, and Joint BioEnergy Institute), and emerging technologies for biodiesel production. The purpose of these special issues is to highlight emerging research efforts in the areas of biomass, biofuels, and bioenergy. The Short Rotation Crops International Conference represented a unique opportunity for communication and interaction between researchers working on herbaceous and woody bioenergy feedstocks, one that we hope will continue to stimulate new interactions and creative solutions for bioenergy and bioproducts. We invite other groups to submit ideas for future special issues to one of the three co-Editors-inChief of BioEnergy Research. For quite some time, there has been a substantial need for an international conference integrating biological and social aspects of producing both herbaceous and woody crops for biofuels, bioenergy, and bioproducts. Increasing energy prices worldwide have made alternative sources economically feasible in recent times. Therefore, given substantial support from 26 sponsors representing both agricultural and forestry sectors, the Short Rotation Crops International Conference: Biofuels, Bioenergy, and Bioproducts from Sustainable Agricultural and Forest Crops was held in Bloomington, Minnesota during August 2008. This meeting combined world-leaders in herbaceous and woody biomass energy crops to present more than 90 papers on the state-of-the-art in sustainable energy production and policy. The conference goal was to create an international forum to strengthen old collaborations and create new partnerships to attack some of the pressing issues facing the world’s demand for energy. This special issue represents many of the extensive efforts underway to help understand these issues. We hope this collection will help to spark further conversations among scientists, academicians, regulators, and the general public. We encourage you to contact the authors to cultivate such discussions. M. D. Casler U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center, 1925 Linden Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USA