2011 Southeastern Sun Grant Center: UT Institute of Agriculture Competitive Grants Program

In late 2010, 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, 14 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, eight proposals were selected for funding.

Funded Proposals

• Selective Catalytic Deoxygenation of Carbohydrates - J. Bozell
• Downregulation of Lignin Content in Switchgrass Plants and the Impact on Soil Microbial Communities and Soil Nutrient Cycling - J. DeBryun
• Development of Nutrient-embedded BioChar Pellets as a Slow-release Fertilizer for Maximizing Bioenergy Crop Production - N. Labbe
• Economic Analysis of Ethanol Yield from Chopped and Densified versus Baled Switchgrass - J. Larson
• Toward Development of Disease Resistant Varieties of Switchgrass - B. Ownley
• Field evaluation of transgenic switchgrass with low-lignin content for biomass composition, sugar conversion yield and disease resistance - N.
• Modeling the Impact of the Emerging Bioeconomy on Transportation Network Flows with Simulation and Bayesian Inference - T. Young
• Evaluating the Impact of Biomass Feedstock Transportation on Air Quality and Traffic Safety: A Case Study in East Tennessee - T. Yu