BIOENERGY RESEARCH

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OUTREACH

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Bioenergy Research

At a time when Americans are dealing with fluctuating fuel costs, Oklahoma’s scientists are stepping up the pace on research to develop efficient alternative fuels from switchgrass and other non-food crops.

The NSF EPSCoR cooperative agreement (EPS-0814361) for research infrastructure improvement is a multi-institutional collaborative project that includes researchers from Oklahoma State University, the University of Oklahoma and the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation. The award is managed by Dr. James Wicksted, principal investigator and OSU physics department chair, and Dr. Frank Waxman, co-principal investigator and Oklahoma EPSCoR state director. Dr. Raymond L. Huhnke, OSU Director of the Division of Agriculture’s Biobased Products and Energy Center, will serve as the team’s lead researcher working with 12 other scientists on the project. 

Building on Oklahoma’s strengths in genomics research, scientists are developing methods to increase biomass yield to produce ethanol from non-food crop sources such as switchgrass. The project also focuses on enhancing biofuel refining using fermentation by microorganisms and chemical catalysis. 

The award will offer research opportunities for college faculty, undergraduate and graduate students, in addition to educational outreach initiatives aimed at K-12 public schools. Events such as Research Day at the Capitol, women in science conferences and grantwriting workshops will also receive support. The project will integrate research and education and foster a new cyberinfrastructure initiative.

For additional information regarding the Oklahoma EPSCoR biofuels research please contact Dr. Raymond L. Huhnke at raymond.huhnke@okstate.edu or Dr. James Wicksted at 405.744.9964 or james.wicksted@okstate.edu.

Education & Human Resources Outreach

Education and Human Resources Outreach programs have been developed to build Oklahoma’s science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce through a robust set of initiatives.  EPSCoR outreach initiatives target five critical points in the STEM pipeline and are designed to broaden participation of women, American Indians and other underrepresented individuals facilitating increased diversity and further strengthening STEM education and research in Oklahoma.  The target areas include:

Oklahoma EPSCoR is also making contributions to the educational and human resources infrastructure that will provide a continuing stream of well-prepared students to the State’s universities and highly qualified college graduates for the state's emerging high technology businesses.

For a list of EPSCoR outreach initiatives Click Here.