Monday, 24 August 2009 09:13
The University of Montana’s Native American Research Laboratory soon will begin work on a novel biofuels technology aimed at making cellulosic ethanol production more efficient.
Research Assistant Professor and NARL Director Michael Ceballos recently received an EArly concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) from the National Science Foundation to develop a unique enzyme technology that was originally developed at the NASA Ames Research Center. The two-year grant is for $300,000, with an option for a one-year renewal.
In collaboration with NASA scientists, Ceballos has studied the use of enzymes isolated from hyperthermophiles – microorganisms that live at extremely high temperatures – to solve problems associated with producing ethanol from cellulosic feedstock such as corn stover and switchgrass.
Preliminary data collected while Ceballos was on a mini-sabbatical with NASA researchers demonstrated that this enzyme technology could make a difference in bioethanol processes.
“Now NARL has the opportunity to demonstrate that the preliminary data are only the beginning,” he said. “It is interesting to me that indigenous people of the Americas originally engineered maize to feed growing populations that developed into large agricultural communities and now Native scientists at NARL are in a position to develop a state-of-the-art technology that may make corn stover and other cellulosic substrates a viable alternative-energy option for an ever-growing global population.”
In collaboration with Jonathan Trent and Chad Paavola at NASA Ames, Ceballos will direct a significant research effort over the next three years to demonstrate that specialized enzyme platforms can increase the efficiency of cellulose deconstruction, one of the most inefficient steps in bioethanol production.
Ceballos also has brought other Native scientists into this research effort, including Don Benn (Navajo), a former science instructor at Diné College in Arizona now serving as a visiting assistant professor at UM under an NSF Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research award, and Meredith Berthelson (Blackfeet), a former math instructor at Blackfeet Community College now pursuing graduate studies at UM and performing research through NARL.
“This is an exciting time in Native science education and modern Native science,” Benn said. “I am amazed and elated at how NARL is able to attract some of the best Native science students in the country and pursue some of the most cutting-edge research being done in the nation. There is a very rich but not well-known history of scientific achievement in pre-European America. I believe that this project will change the level of awareness of Native contributions to science.”
NARL was established at UM in 2007 to provide advanced, hands-on scientific research opportunities to Native American science students in an interdisciplinary and cross-cultural environment guided by culturally relevant faculty mentors. Although NARL is dedicated to serving Native students, non-Native and international students also work at NARL to provide a truly cross-cultural research setting. This new award will introduce students to cutting-edge biofuels and alternative-energy research.
