Author: Carrie Cox

Please add your name to our letter to Congress. It only take a few seconds of your time!

The U.S. Congress has begun work drafting the next Farm Bill, which will lay out agriculture policy, programs and funding for the next 5 years and beyond. With the algae sector increasingly moving into agricultural markets, such as food, feed, soil health and nutrient management, agriculture policy is becoming increasingly important. The outcome of the Farm Bill process has the potential to greatly impact the development of the algae sector.

ABO is undertaking a multi-faceted campaign to ensure the Farm Bill strongly supports future algae research, development and commercial deployment.

The first step in our campaign is protecting and improving core programs in the Farm Bill’s Energy Title. The Farm Bill Energy Title is about much more than energy. It is home to: 

• Biorefinery Assistance Program — the core lending program for commercial-scale advanced biofuel, renewable chemical, and biobased product manufacturing projects, including algae facilities.
• USDA BioPreferred Program — including the USDA BioPreferred label program and federal procurement preference for biobased products.
• Biomass R&D Program — joint USDA-DOE program supporting research and development of biomass feedstocks, advanced biofuels and biobased products.

Together with our partners in the Agriculture Energy Coalition, we have preserved and improved Farm Bill Energy Title programs over many years. It is more important than ever to do so again, as the entire title is under attack. It is fair to say that without your participation we may not have an Energy Title in the upcoming farm bill.  

Energy Title programs cost well less than 1% of total farm bill outlays, and pack a development punch for the very modest investment. Over $5 billion has been leveraged since the title’s inception to support economic development and jobs across rural America.

Please add your organization or business to the National Sign-on Support Letter immediately and ask other friendly groups/businesses to do so as well. It will take less than 1 minute of your time.

Click this link to sign

The sign-on deadline is February 28th COB.

The Algae Foundation has recently announced the availability of the Introduction to Algae MOOC. The Massive Open Online Course offered through Coursera was produced at the University of San Diego and taught by Drs. Steve Mayfield of UCSD and Ira “Ike” Levine, University of Southern Maine.

We invite you to sign up for this wonderful opportunity to learn the “Power of Algae” and share this course with all of your colleagues in the science community, educators, and your social networks. This course brings together some of foremost algae experts from industry and academia to share their experience and understandings of the fundamentals of algae.

Click here and enroll in the Algal MOOC today!

 

The Department of Energy’s Joint Genomics Institute recently announced they are accepting Letters of Intent for large-scale sequence-based genomic science projects that address DOE missions in sustainable biofuel production, global carbon recycling, and biogeochemistry. 

A number of topics will be given special consideration, including algal genomics. 

Letters of intent must be submitted by March 30, 2018! 

For more information, please visit the CSP page. 

Are you ready to help tell the story of algae to a wider audience? The Algae Biomass Organization is creating a new Communications Committee to help get the word out about all of the exciting developments in algae research, commercialization and product development. 

Participation is open to all ABO members. Communications and public relations representatives of ABO members are also welcome.

The committee’s first priorities will include:

• Executing new public relations, web and social media campaigns
• Promoting algae-based products, research and commercial breakthroughs
• Publicizing the positive role algae can play in solving global challenges 
• Documenting the economic benefits of a robust algae industry

Volunteering for an ABO committee is also a great opportunity to build your own network and develop a leadership role in the industry.  

The Communications Committee is chaired by ABO board member Dr. Rebecca White, Vice President of Operations at Qualitas Health.

To join the committee, please RSVP to Barb Scheevel  at: bscheevel@algaebiomass.org   

Join us and help raise the profile of all things algae!
 

Arizona State University will be hosting a memorial service, or perhaps better termed, a celebration, of Prof. Milt Sommerfeld’s life, on Saturday, 10 March 2018, from 10 AM to 2 PM at the Arizona Center for Algae Technology and Innovation (AzCATI), ASU Polytechnic Campus, 7418 E. Innovation Way South, Mesa, AZ 85212.

Prof. Sommerfield, who passed away last year after a battle with cancer, spent his career inspiring the next generation of algae researchers and all of those who met him with his humor, knowledge and passion. He started the Laboratory of Algae Research and Biotechnology (LARB) in Arizona, which later became the AzCATI, and acts as one of the key research hubs for algae in the United States. He was also instrumental in developing the Algae Testbed Public Private Partnership (ATP3), which offers third-party technology verification for those researchers looking to test out their technology.

This event is open to the public and all of Milt’s colleagues, friends, students and associates. Please contact Thomas.dempster@asu.edu with questions or to contribute photographs of Milt that you may have from any chapter of his 48 year academic career.