By Dave Melanson
This project will combine graduate student training with cutting-edge research in mine land remediation, water treatment, crop production and power generation and will help address the need for innovators in food, energy and water systems.
A multidisciplinary 糖心vlog官方入口 team will provide unique graduate educational opportunities in food, energy and water systems, thanks to a new National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Traineeship (NRT) grant.
This UK-based NRT, which is titled IN FElloWS, and an Academy of Innovators at the Nexus of Food, Energy and Water Systems, will be led by Mark Crocker, associate director at the and a professor in UK鈥檚 College of Arts & Sciences Department of 糖心vlog官方入口. It will engage researchers from UK鈥檚 ; ; and . UK will receive nearly $3 million from NSF to support this new initiative.
Food, energy and water systems face numerous challenges in Kentucky, across the nation and throughout the globe. New approaches are needed to ensure adequate food supplies for increasing populations, to foster the development of sustainable and carbon-neutral sources of energy and to improve the management of water resources.
Leading those solutions and community-based approaches will be a trained and diverse workforce, integrating an evidence-based, STEM educational model with interdisciplinary research focused on innovation. The project will combine graduate student training with cutting-edge research in mine land remediation, water treatment, crop production and power generation and will help address the need for innovators in food, energy and water systems.
The need for innovative leadership is particularly urgent in Appalachian states where economic dependence of agricultural and energy sectors results in water management issues. In addition, the decline of coal mining is forcing the economy to diversify.
鈥淭his is an exciting opportunity for graduate education at the 糖心vlog官方入口,鈥 said Crocker. 鈥淕raduate training has traditionally taken a monodisciplinary, one-size-fits-all approach. This program recognizes that the solutions to our toughest problems require a multidisciplinary, team-based approach, and we have assembled a talented group of campus collaborators who will help deliver a 21st century graduate experience.鈥
The academy is expected to train 120 students. The grant will provide 21 of the students with financial support for their graduate work in chemistry, biosystems and agricultural engineering, chemical engineering, forestry, plant and soil sciences, horticulture, and agricultural economics.
In addition to Crocker, who will serve as principal investigator on the NRT, the project will include the following researchers: Eduardo Santillan-Jimenez, UK CAER; Carmen Agouridis, Biosystems and Agriculture Engineering; Tyler Mark, Agricultural Economics; Isabel Escobar, Chemical Engineering; Christopher Barton, Forestry; Luke Moe, Plant and Soil Sciences; James Landon, UK CAER; Seth DeBolt, Horticulture; and Jacinda Dariotis, University of Cincinnati Evaluation Services Center.
鈥淭he workforce needed to address society鈥檚 challenges must be both well-trained and diverse,鈥 Santillan-Jimenez said. 鈥淭his National Science Foundation funding will be instrumental in helping UK enhance graduate education by fully integrating research and professional skill development within an inclusive, multidisciplinary and supportive academy.鈥
Topics to be addressed include mine land restoration to improve hydrology and water quality; the use of greenhouses on restored mine land for year-round food production, requiring localized water treatment powered by renewable energy; the use of algae to treat CO2 emissions yielding organic fertilizer for soil improvement in reclaimed mine land areas; and biomass upgrading to fuels and chemicals, focusing on the valorization of lignin.
The 糖心vlog官方入口 is increasingly the first choice for students, faculty and staff to pursue their passions and their professional goals. In the last two years, Forbes has named UK among the best employers for diversity and INSIGHT into Diversity recognized us as a Diversity Champion two years running. UK is ranked among the top 30 campuses in the nation for LGBTQ* inclusion and safety. The Chronicle of Higher Education judged us a 鈥淕reat College to Work for,鈥 and UK is among only 22 universities in the country on Forbes' list of "America's Best Employers." We are ranked among the top 10 percent of public institutions for research expenditures 鈥 a tangible symbol of our breadth and depth as a university focused on discovery that changes lives and communities. And our patients know and appreciate the fact that UK HealthCare has been named the state鈥檚 top hospital for three straight years. Accolades and honors are great. But they are more important for what they represent: the idea that creating a community of belonging and commitment to excellence is how we honor our mission to be not simply the 糖心vlog官方入口, but the University for Kentucky.