Cellulosic Ethanol The Topic of Talk Set for UF/CREC

Gary Cooper Citrus, Florida

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – LAKE ALFRED, Florida – The University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC) will host a Cellulosic Ethanol lecture Tuesday, Sept. 30 at 1:45 p.m. in the Ben Hill Griffin, Jr. Citrus Hall. The lecture, “Cellulosic Ethanol – Ethanol from the Inedible Portion of Plants”, will be presented via video conference by Dr. Lonnie Ingram from UF in Gainesville as the Fall 2008 presentation of York Distinguished Lecture. This lecture series brings to the UF campus outstanding topics of interest presented by top U.S. Scientists, and is made possible through the establishment of an endowment from Dr. and Mrs. E.T.York, Jr.
Dr. Ingram is a Distinguished Professor in the UF/IFAS Microbiology and Cell Science Department with 30 years of research experience in the conversion of lignocellulose to ethanol. He is also the 24th York Distinguished Lecturer and Director of the Florida Center for Renewable Chemicals and Fuels at UF.
Educated as a Biologist (B.S.) at the University of South Carolina (1969) and a Botanist (Ph.D.) at the University of Texas (1971), his research has resulted in more than 200 scientific publications and more than 20 pending and issued U.S. patents. One of these was selected to become Landmark Patent 5,000,000 by the Department of Commerce and describes the first successful genetic engineering of a microorganism that can efficiently convert all hexose and pentose sugar constituents of biomass into ethanol. All patents have been licensed to industry with the creation of two spin-off companies. Several of these patents are now being commercialized for the production of ethanol as an automotive fuel and for the production of organic acids for use in biodegradable plastics.
Dr. Ingram has been elected to membership in the American Academy of Microbiology, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and as a fellow of the Society of Industrial Microbiology.
Please join us at the UF/IFAS CREC Ben Hill Griffin, Jr. Citrus Hall, Room 1, for this informative lecture. Coffee and refreshments will be provided. The CREC is located at 700 Experiment Station Road in Lake Alfred. For more information please call Christen Johnson, Public Relations Specialist, at (863) 956-1151.
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