Nebraska's Switchgrass Researchers

There seem to be, thankfully, few sacred cows when it comes to university research on the environment.

The clearest sign of that came last week, when the University of Nebraska-Lincoln announced that researchers there had shown that switchgrass produces 540% more energy than is needed to grow it, compared with just 25% more for corn. This from a university in the heart of America's corn belt.

The research was led by Kenneth P. Vogel, an adjunct professor in the department of agronomy and horticulture whose research into plant genetics is focused on developing perennial grasses and legumes. His work has important implications not only for biofuels, but also for soil and water quality in the heartland: The planting of perennial grasses would mean less erosion from plowing and less pesticide runoff into rivers and streams.

In addition to its research, UNL also offers both a bachelor of arts and a bachelor of science in environmental studies through its College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources and the College of Arts and Sciences. Beyond the core courses, students can tailor their studies to place emphasis on areas from applied climate science to sociology.

Image credit: University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Students Win Prizes For Soil, Water Research

Three college students have been awarded $1,000 each for their environmental research. The prizes were awarded as part of a competition organized by the Adventus Group, a private bioremediation company.

Na Wei, a student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was recognized for her study, "Anaerobic MTBE/TBA Biodegradation Under Different Terminal Electron Acceptor Processes." Manmeet Waria from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln was singled out for her presentation, "Field-Scale Clean Up of Pesticide Contaminated Soil with Combined Chemical and Biological Approach." The third prizewinner was Rosemary Carrol of the Desert Research Institute, in Reno, Nevada. Her presentation was entitled "Evaluating the Impacts of Uncertainty in Geomorphic Channel Changes on Predicting Mercury Transport and Fate in the Carson River System." The Desert Research Institute is an independent institution within the Nevada higher ed system that has some 500 researchers, staff and students working on research projects all over the world.

Adventus made the awards during the 23rd annual International Conference on Soils, Sediments and Water, which was held at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. "These impressive young environmentalists all displayed superb thought leadership and presentation skills. Selecting the winning themes was extremely difficult, although the industry will surely be hearing more from these students in years ahead," said Dr. Fayaz Lakhwala, Adventus' director of engineering, in a prepared statement. Adventus, which is based in Freeport, Ill., works on soil, sediment and groundwater remediation worldwide.