Iowa State puts together powerful bioenergy team
Excitement about Iowa's emerging role in bioenergy is sweeping across the state. Iowa State is taking a strong leadership role in research into biorenewable fuels and products by combining the efforts of powerful research units on campus. Robert Brown, head of the Office for Biorenewables Programs, has been a broker or matchmaker in building campus coalitions and helping to put Iowa State at the center of the nation's bioenergy map.
Brown said the Office of Biorenewables Programs helps campus units -- and others -- communicate and coordinate biorenewables research. The office helps researchers seek grants and bridges diverse areas to enhance collaboration.
"The research that's identified ends up being done in places like the Plant Sciences Institute and other university units," said Brown, a mechanical engineering professor.
The office also works with Jill Euken, an Extension field specialist for biobased products. "The role I play is outreach -- hooking industry into university faculty and vice-versa," Euken said. She also educates Iowans on the potential of a biorenewables-based economy.
That collaboration is necessary to advance four thrust areas the U.S. Department of Energy identified for biorenewables research: plant science, production, processing and utilization. The Plant Sciences Institute largely focuses on the first two, while other campus research centers study the other areas.
Steve Fales, the Office of Biorenewables Programs' associate director, said the office is integrating research into all four areas by encouraging research with a "systems approach" -- considering the entire impact and life cycle of a product or process.
"We need to bring the fundamental plant sciences -- genomics and molecular biology -- to bear on these practical problems and solutions," said Fales, former chair of the Agronomy Department, who joined the office this past winter. "Engaging the plant scientists with the engineers is something this office can facilitate."
Fales took his own advice by reading Brown's biorenewables textbook. Brown has picked up several plant biology books.
Until now, Brown said, "My world has been the mechanical engineering department. Now sometimes I think I'm confused for an agronomist, I'm over there so much."
