SEES Fellows: The Role of Plant Endophytes in the Sustainable Production of Bioenergy

爱达荷州大学的Posy Busby博士将在NSF科学、工程和教育促进可持续发展研究员(SEE FERLOS计划)颁发的这一奖项中，研究自然发生的植物内生植物在种植用作生物燃料原料的棉白杨中的使用。该奖项得到了以下机构的支持：生物科学局、数学和物理科学局的化学部和刺激竞争研究的实验计划办公室(EPSCoR)。拟议中的工作将调查将植物内生真菌应用于棉白杨的潜力，以帮助保护树木免受太平洋西北部生物燃料种植园的主要锈病(Melampsora)的侵袭。该奖项支持的研究的目的是开发可持续的农业方法来生产生物燃料。巴斯比将与爱达荷大学森林、牧场和火灾科学系的George Newcombe教授和“Greenwood Resources”的Brian Stanton博士以及橡树岭国家实验室、Luc Hoffmann研究所(瑞士)和Yakama Nation野生动物资源管理计划的其他合作者合作。巴斯比博士还将在该项目中与研究生和本科生合作，包括来自代表性不足群体的学生。该项目由NSF科学、工程和可持续发展教育研究员(SEE FLOLS)计划支持，目标是帮助实现必要的发现，从而为导致环境、能源和社会可持续发展的行动提供信息，同时创造必要的劳动力来应对这些挑战。在SEES研究员的支持下，该项目将使有前途的早期职业研究人员能够在与可持续发展相关的独立研究生涯中站稳脚跟。

In this Award from the NSF Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability Fellows (SEES Fellows Program) Dr. Posy Busby from the University of Idaho will investigate the use of naturally-occurring plant endophytes in the cultivation of cottonwood trees for use as feedstock for biofuels. This award has support from: the Directorate for Biological Sciences, the Division of Chemistry in the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences, and the Office of Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).The proposed work will investigate the potential that application of plant endophytes to cottonwood trees can help to protect the trees from a major rust pathogen (Melampsora) in biofuel plantations in the Pacific Northwest.The aim of studies like that supported in this award is to develop sustainable agricultural methods for biofuel production.Dr. Busby will be working with collaborators Prof. George Newcombe of the Department of Forest, Rangeland and Fire Sciences at the University of Idaho and Dr. Brian Stanton at "Greenwood Resources," and additional collaborators at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Luc Hoffmann Institute (Switzerland) and the Yakama Nation Wildlife Resource Management Program. Dr. Busby will also be working with graduate and undergraduate students in this project, including students from underrepresented groups.This project is supported under the NSF Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability Fellows (SEES Fellows) program, with the goal of helping to enable discoveries needed to inform actions that lead to environmental, energy and societal sustainability while creating the necessary workforce to address these challenges. With SEES Fellows support, this project will enable a promising early career researcher to establish themselves in an independent research career related to sustainability.