Fall 2020 Funding Awards

MnDRIVE Advancing Industry, Conserving Our Environment is happy to announce our Fall 2020 Seed Grant and Demonstration Grant Awards. Congratulations to the PIs and project teams. We also want to specifically acknowledge those Awards that have received an NRRI Travel Grant (indicated by **) through our partnership with the Natural Resources Research Institute.  This partnership was established in 2020 to support dissemination of innovative research findings throughout the UMN system and with our professional partners.

Seed Grant

The Seed Grant projects selected below address environmental remediation challenges within Minnesota and seek to develop innovative research solutions at the “pilot” scale. Each project team will partner with an organization outside the UMN to collaborate on research design and findings, as well as public outreach efforts.

Exploring the Potential of Procyanidin Soil Amendments to Reduce Nitrous Oxide Emissions from Agriculture**
Timothy Griffis | CFANS – Department of Soil, Water, and Climate

A Novel Biomechanical Cotreatment Process Improving Microbial Conversion of Plastic Waste**
Boya Xiong | CSE – Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo-Engineering

Demonstration Grant

Demonstration Grant projects similarly address environmental remediation concerns within Minnesota’s soil, air, or water. However, these projects “scale up” to demonstrate and test proven remediation solutions or technology at typical industry scales. We are thrilled to be announcing two new research awards.

Biological Sulfate Treatment Coupled with Sulfide Immobilization for Electric Power Utility Water**
Chan Lan Chun | UMD – Civil Engineering / Natural Resources Research Institute

Demonstrate an integrated biological system for animal wastewater treatment through utilization**
R. Roger Ruan | CFANS – Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering