2025 Funded Projects | MnDRIVE Environment

We are pleased to fund four projects in 2025 that advance MnDRIVE Environment objectives – driving environmental progress in areas including sustainable agriculture, water, energy, food systems, decision support, and circular economies. These outcomes-oriented projects, which include statewide partners from the private, public, and nonprofit sectors, are awarded through the Institute on the Environment’s Impact Goals grantmaking program.

The following excerpts were prepared from information project teams provided in their proposals, lightly adapted for length and consistency.

Evaluating and Promoting the Multiple Sustainability and One Health Benefits of Seaweed in Animal Feed Through International Collaboration

The use of seaweed in animal feed presents a number of environmental and economic benefits. However, due to inadequate supply and uncertainty of economic sustainability, compared to East and Southeast Asia, U.S. and European animal feed and livestock industries haven’t given much consideration to the use of seaweed as a significant long-term feed resource.

Through international network building, collaboration, and the convening of a Virtual International Seaweed to Animal Feed Conference (VISAFC), the goal of this project is to build awareness and create new knowledge of the multiple sustainability and One Health benefits of seaweed and seaweed-derived feed additives in swine diets to reduce the environmental footprint and improve animal health in pork production systems.

Principal Investigator:

Dr. Gerald (Jerry) Shurson, Department of Animal Science. University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN

Team:

Dr. Jinsu Hong, Researcher 5, Department of Animal Science, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN
Dr. Chi Chen, Professor, Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN
Dr. Rylie Pelton, Research Scientist, Industrial Ecology, IonE, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN
Dr. Christina Mulvenna, Agri-Food & Biosciences Institute, Hillsborough, Northern Ireland
Sarah Muirhead, Managing Director, Informa Markets/Farm Progress Media, St. Charles, IL
Rene Schepens, Director, FermentationExperts AS, Bække, Denmark and Sioux Falls, SD
Dr. Ellen Dierenfeld, Sustainable Feed Innovations, World Wildlife Fund

Data Centers, Energy, and Water: Local Government Tools for Collective Planning and Community Decision-making in SE Minnesota

The water and energy demand of data centers can approximate small cities, consuming the equivalent to thousands of homes. Southeast Minnesota is attracting data center developers, offering opportunities for rural jobs and local tax revenue. However this development opportunity is also sparking worry over natural resource use and energy consumption.

This project includes an interdisciplinary team – law, policy, geology, community development, and local government – equipped to assess the local impacts of data center development. The project team will provide tools to help small towns being approached by data center developers evaluate their potential impact and initiate conversations among collective governance bodies about managing the high energy and water demands of data centers.

Principal Investigator:

Elise Harrington, Assistant Professor, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

Team:

James Coleman, Professor, University of Minnesota Law School, Minneapolis, MN
Carrie Jennings, Research and Policy Director, Freshwater & Adjunct Faculty and Affiliate, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
Andi Sutton, Executive Director, Southeast Regional Sustainable Development Partnership, University of Minnesota Extension
Al Roder, City Administrator, City of Byron
Ragini Varma, City Administrator/City Clerk-Treasurer & EDA Director, City of Lewiston
Bill Schimmel, City Administrator, City of Stewartville

Solar Powered Container Farming: A Model for Sustainable Food Production

Growing food and getting it to local communities is dependent on weather conditions and consumes energy – especially in northern climates. Producing that energy with fossil fuels is changing the climate, imperiling the ability to economically produce food which leads to food insecurity in local communities. Container farming can address many issues in local food systems by eliminating the need for large land tracts and ideal weather conditions.

This project will demonstrate a model for growing high value crops in Minnesota year-round that lowers the carbon footprint, increases food system sustainability, and removes barriers from farmers under-privileged in land and capital.

Principal Investigator:

Eric Buchanan, Director, Renewable Energy Program, University of Minnesota West Central Research and Outreach Center, University of Minnesota Morris

Team:

Joel Tallaksen, Renewable Energy Scientist, West Central Research and Outreach Center, University of Minnesota, Morris, MN
Kent Peterson, Owner, Bees and Greens, Benson MN
Ed Brands, Associate Professor, Environmental Studies, University of Minnesota Morris, Morris, MN
Uwe Kortshagen, Professor, Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
Nate Eylands, Professor, Horticulture Science, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN
Vivian Ferry, Associate Professor, Chem Eng & Material Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
Syd Bauer and Vern Simula, Members, West Central MN Climate Network

Sharing Technologies to Catalyze a Minnesota Based Circular Textile Economy

Textile waste is a global problem with an estimated 92 million tons produced annually. Of the estimated 17 million tons discarded each year in the United States, only 2.5 million tons are recycled. Turning the challenge of textile waste into a regional, Minnesota-based, circular economic engine would create a template that other locales could emulate with different recyclable materials.

This project’s goal is to lend organizations the Fiber Shredder, a patent-pending textile recycling technology, to catalyze innovation and adoption of recycled fiber-sustainably grown fiber blends and yarns to grow Minnesota based textile circular economies. Combining technologies and expertise from Grumpelstiltskin’s Fiber Mill in rural northeast Minnesota, UMD’s Fiber Shredder mechanical textile recycling technology that shears discarded apparel into fiber, UMN CFANS Forever Green perennial flax grown in Rosemount, and the UMN College of Design the team hopes to inspire and activate Minnesota organizations to build textile circular economies using their textile waste and sustainably grown perennial flax so people and planet prosper together.

Principal Investigator:

Dr. Abigail Clarke-Sather, Associate Professor, SCSE Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, University of Minnesota, Duluth, MN

Co-PIs:

Dr. Neil Anderson, Professor, CFANS Horticulture Science, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN
Dr. Linsey Griffin, Associate Professor, College of Design, Design Innovation, Apparel, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN
Kelsey Evans, Owner & Operator, Grumpelstiltskin’s Fiber Mill

Team:

Matt Holen, Research Associate, CFANS Horticulture Science, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN