CSU has just received a four-year USDA-AFRI training grant to fund four Master’s student assistantships in biofuels development. The grant period is from November 1, 2009-October 31, 2013.
Principle Investigator Dr. Catherine Keske (pictured), assistant professor of agricultural and resource economics in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, states that this grant reinforces CSU’s national reputation as a leader in training students for careers in alternative energy. The training program will emphasize four areas: agronomy, crop genetics, engineering, and policy/economics. The training program will focus on training students to solve problems related to delivering oilseed-based biofuels to market, and students will be exposed to several experiential learning activities outside of the laboratory.
Dr. Keske states that the program’s infrastructure is well integrated with current programs on campus, such as the Biofuels IGERT doctoral student training program and the Clean Energy Supercluster: “This program adds to the momentum and synergy that we are already experiencing on campus. It paves the way for future research and for more graduate student opportunities.”
Co-PIs Dr. Patrick Byrne (Soil and Crop Sciences), Dr. Jerry Johnson (Soil and Crop Sciences), Dr. Daniel Olsen (Mechanical Engineering) will lead the training efforts on the other key aspects of the oilseed education program. Dr. Byrne, who is the graduate coordinator for the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, notes that there is already student interest in oilseed biofuel-related projects. He states that applications have already started rolling in the door, and that the program’s first students may begin as early as January 2010.
