乳业废物研究
Diverse Team of Graduate, Postdoctoral 研究ers Finding Value in Dairy Waste
多样性 is the hallmark of a recent $10 million grant from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture to build sustainability and prosperity for the dairy industry in Idaho and beyond.
The 20 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers working with faculty on this grant come from many regions, 国家, 学科背景. The theme of diversity also aptly encompasses their research. The team is taking an array of creative approaches toward addressing a common yet critical challenge — transforming one person’s waste into another person’s treasure.
The five-year project is titled “Creating a New Bioeconomy for Dairies to Increase Nutrient Recycling, 提高作物生产力 & 促进美国农村的繁荣.其中包括一组农学家, 经济学家, 动物的科学家, 工程师和水土专家.
The team has been developing management practices, processes and technologies to produce bioproducts like fertilizer substitutes and bioplastics at a large scale from dairy waste streams.
他们也在评估经济回报, environmental benefits and the perceived value to consumers and dairy producers of bioproducts.
No conscious choice was made to field such a diverse research team. 而, 该基金的首席研究员, 马克麦奎尔, explained the group’s makeup reflects the general diversity among graduate students throughout U of I.
Nonetheless, McGuire, CALS associate dean of research and director of the 爱达荷农业实验站, believes the group’s diversity will be key to its success.
It really behooves us to have people from different perspectives, 尤其是在社会学方面. We’re trying to reach different groups of people. 马克麦奎尔, ISAID grant’s principal investigator
McGuire notes participants from 国家 such as Armenia, 孟加拉国, China and Ghana approach problem-solving and product commercialization through different lenses.
“It really behooves us to have people from different perspectives, 尤其是在社会学方面. We’re trying to reach different groups of people,” McGuire said.
The benefit such diversity provides is also perceived by the graduate students themselves.
“The first impression of that group of students is their background is so diverse and I get to talk with people from different backgrounds, 这给了我新的想法,杨正亮“卢卡斯”说, 中国四川省的一个村庄.
Yang, who recently finished his master’s degree in 应用经济学 at U of I and will soon start working on a doctorate at Michigan State University, wrote a paper on the willingness of consumers to pay for bioplastics made from manure, along with other considerations about the technology.
“至少从经济学的角度来看是这样, I think biodegradable plastics will definitely improve the living quality and help us save more money, be friendly to the environment and make the world a better place,杨说.
Emmanuella Owusu Ansah，一名硕士研究生 植物科学 from Ghana, helped evaluate the nitrogen response of spring barley and wheat for the project.
“I like the fact that they are trying to help the agricultural sector with sustainability and the environment in mind,安萨说.
Dairy waste is voluminous and costly to transport. Environmental challenges may result if surrounding agricultural lands where it’s applied become oversaturated with nutrients. 美极拉恩说道, 的构想, is involved in research using biochar — a lightweight residue made of carbon and ashes — to absorb phosphorus from dairy lagoons. The process filters separate nutrients into more easily transportable form, 哪些可以作为肥料的替代品.
“It’s really nice to get all of those other perspectives instead of just people in Idaho working on this project that’s based in Idaho,拉安说.
While getting to know the other students on the project, Laan discovered participants’ appreciation for science was a unifying factor: Team members from different backgrounds who shared a common scientific discipline were most surprised by how much they had in common.
欲知详情，请浏览: c5.fcisaltproducts.com/isaid.
这个项目, titled “Creating a New Bioeconomy for Dairies to increase Nutrient Recycling, 提高作物生产力 & 促进美国农村的繁荣,” is funded under the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture grant No. 2020-69012-31871. The total project funding is $10,000,000 of which 100% is the federal share. 奖助金详情可浏览 NIFA的网站.