In early 2009, the Southeastern Sun Grant Center announced the availability of its University of Tennessee Insitute of Agriculture internal competitive grants program. To be eligible for the grant, the principle investigator was required to be a faculty member in the Institute. The RFA requested proposals for projects with a maximum funding request of $75,000 for a period of up to two years.
In total, 21 full proposals were received for the program from many departments and centers across the institute.
After extensive review by a panel with expertise in all the DOT research priority areas, seven proposals were selected for funding.
Funded Proposals:
- Identification and characterization of insect cellulolytic systems for plant biomass degradation – J. Jurat-Fuentes, W. Klingeman, C. Oppert, B. Oppert (USDA-ARS GMPRC)
- New biocatalysts to hydrolyze lignocellulosic biomass in ionic liquids – N. Labbe, M. Radosevich, D. Hayes, V. Srinivasan, J. Jurat-Fuentes
- A life cycle inventory for switchgrass fuel pellets – A. Taylor, D. Harper, D. Hodges
- Feature extraction models for identifying optimum biorefinery sites in the southeastern U.S. with sustainability and policy impact modules – T. Young, D. Hodges, F. Guess
- Plant pathogen enzymes for biomass treatment and biofuel production – K. Lamour, J. Jurat-Fuentes
- Estimating the Effects of Climate Change Legislation on U.S. Biomass Supply Using a High Resolution Integrated Socioeconomic-Biogeophysical Model – T. Hellwinckle, T. West (ORNL)
- Developing Herbicide-resistant Switchgrass for Improvement of Weed Control and Stand Establishment – F. Chen, N. Stewart, G. Armel, N. Rhodes