REU Site: Interdisciplinary Research Experiences for Undergraduates on Bioenergy

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This interdisciplinary Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) site at South Dakota State University will allow ten undergraduate students for 10 weeks during the summers of 2013 to 2015 to learn research skills and to participate in unique research experiences related to biofuels and bioenergy crops. Bioenergy is not only an emergent area in science and engineering with profound implications for the U.S. economy, but it is also an excellent training ground in multidisciplinary research. The industry is still developing, and it can be expected that the demands for scientists in this area and a trained work force will increase in the near future. Field trips to industry partners will allow students to learn about potential careers in the bioenergy industry. This project links together faculty mentors from 6 different departments (biology and microbiology, agricultural and biosystems engineering, plant science, chemistry, economics, geospatial sciences) with active research programs on bioenergy, and this will provide a multidisciplinary research environment for the participants of the program. Students in chemistry, biology, engineering, and economics will get actively involved in projects representing the whole spectrum of state of the art bioenergy research from feedstock genomics, to new technologies in bioprocessing and the conversion of bioenergy crops into biofuels, to ecological and environmental sustainability of agricultural crop production, but will also consider the societal and economic impacts of global bioenergy production. Students will also participate in seminars and various workshops, such as ethics training and responsible conduct in research. The students are selected based on their academic record, letters of recommendation, and their motivation to work in a multidisciplinary research environment. A common assessment tool will be used to evaluate the gains of the students in different research relevant areas after the program. The students are tracked to determine their continued interest in their academic field of study, their career paths, and the lasting influences of the research experience. More information is available by visiting the web page of the program (http://www.sdstate.edu/biomicro/REU/index.cfm), or by contacting sdsu.reu.bioenergy@sdstate.edu, the PI (Dr. Heike Bücking at heike.bucking@sdstate.edu) or the co-PI (Dr. Jose Gonzalez at jose.gonzalez@sdstate.edu) of the program.The site is co-funded by the Department of Defense in partnership with the NSF REU program.