“The Bold Future of Alternative Energy” is the topic when native Nebraskan Jay Keasling, a pioneer in synthetic biology, concludes the first year of the new Heuermann Lecture series in the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Keasling, CEO of the Joint BioEnergy Institute in Emeryville, Calif., will speak at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 8, in the Hardin Hall Auditorium on UNL’s East Campus, 33rd and Holdrege.
A 2 p.m. reception in the Hardin Hall lobby precedes the lecture.
Keasling and colleagues have engineered a strain of Escherichia coli bacteria to produce biodiesel fuel from biomass such as switchgrass without the need of enzyme additives. Now they are seeking ways to make their discovery economically competitive in the quantities needed.
Keasling is the recipient of the 2010 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the inaugural Biotech Humanitarian Award from the Biotechnology Industry Organization for his discovery using synthetic biology to fight malaria, and numerous other awards.
Heuermann Lectures focus on providing and sustaining enough food, natural resources and renewable energy for the world’s people, and on securing the sustainability of rural communities where the important work of producing food and renewable energy occurs. They are made possible through a gift from B. Keith and Norma Heuermann of Phillips, long-time university supporters with a strong commitment to Nebraska’s production agriculture, natural resources, rural areas and people.
More information on the lectures is available at http://heuermannlectures.unl.edu.
More details at: http://go.unl.edu/3t6