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Water Implications of Biofuels Production in the United States (2008)

Chapter: Appendix C: Biographical Sketches for Committee on Water Implications of Biofuels Production in the United States

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Biographical Sketches for Committee on Water Implications of Biofuels Production in the United States." National Research Council. 2008. Water Implications of Biofuels Production in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12039.
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Page 69
Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Biographical Sketches for Committee on Water Implications of Biofuels Production in the United States." National Research Council. 2008. Water Implications of Biofuels Production in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12039.
×
Page 70
Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Biographical Sketches for Committee on Water Implications of Biofuels Production in the United States." National Research Council. 2008. Water Implications of Biofuels Production in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12039.
×
Page 71
Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Biographical Sketches for Committee on Water Implications of Biofuels Production in the United States." National Research Council. 2008. Water Implications of Biofuels Production in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12039.
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Page 72

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Appendix C Biographical Sketches for Committee on Water Implications of Biofuels Production in the United States Jerald L. Schnoor (NAE), Chair, is the Allen S. Henry Chair Professor in Engineering, Professor in Civil & Environmental Engineering; Professor in Occupational and Environmental Health, the College of Public Health; and Co-Director of the Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research at the University of Iowa. Dr. Schnoor is a member of the National Acad- emy of Engineering and a registered professional engineer. His research interests are in mathematical modeling of water quality, phytoremediation, and global change. He has research projects on the design of environmental observatories, carbon sequestration to mitigate global warming, phytoreme- diation of hazardous wastes, and exposure risk assessment modeling. Dr. Schnoor is also the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Environmental Science and Technology, Co-editor of the John Wiley Series of Texts and Monographs in Environmental Science & Technology, and a member of the U.S. EPA Science Advisory Board. He received his B.S. in chemical engineering from Iowa State University, his M.S. in environmental health engineering from the University of Texas and Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of Texas. Otto C. Doering is a professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University. He is a public policy specialist and has served the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) working on the 1977 and 1990 Farm Bills. In 1997, he was the principal advisor to USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service for implementing the 1996 Farm Bill. In 1999, he was team leader for the economic analysis of the White House’s National Hypoxia Assessment looking at the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. His recent publications include a book on the 1996 Farm Bill and a book on the effects of climate change and variability on agricultural production systems. Recent publications of his focus on economic linkages driving the response to nitrogen over-enrichment, the rationale for U.S. agricultural policy, and 69

70 Appendix C integrating biomass energy into existing energy systems. Dr. Doering re- ceived his M.S. degree in economics from the London School of Economics and his Ph.D. degree from Cornell University. Dara Entekhabi is a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sci- ences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research interests are in the basic understanding of coupled surface, subsurface, and atmo- spheric hydrologic systems that may form the bases for enhanced hydrologic predictability. More specifically, his current research is in land-atmosphere interactions, remote sensing, physical hydrology, operational hydrology, hydrometeorology, groundwater-surface water interaction, and hillslope hydrology. He received his B.A. and M.A. degrees from Clark University and his Ph.D. degree in civil engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was founding chair of the WSTB’s committee on hydro- logic science, a current member of the WSTB, and recently a member of the committee reviewing the National Weather Service Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service. Edward A. Hiler (NAE) is the Ellison Chair in International Floriculture at Texas A&M University. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. His research interests are in the areas of soil and water con- servation engineering, small watershed hydrology, irrigation and drainage engineering, and soil-plant-water-atmosphere relations as related to irriga- tion management. Other interests have included alternate energy sources, with particular emphasis on biomass energy, and the associated biochemi- cal and microbiological energy conversion processes. He received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in agricultural engineering from The Ohio State University. Theodore L. Hullar, professor at Cornell University, is currently on leave. He was director of Higher Education Programs for The Atlantic Philanthropies (USA) Inc. Dr. Hullar was director of the Cornell University Center for the Environment. He served as chancellor at the University of California-Davis and professor of environmental toxicology. Dr. Hullar has served as deputy commissioner of the New York Environmental Conservation Commission and as research director at the Cornell University Agricultural Research Station. His research interests include biochemistry, environmental toxicol- ogy, agriculture, and environmental policy. Dr. Hullar received his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Minnesota.

Appendix C 71 G. David Tilman (NAS) is Regents Professor and director of the Cedar Creek Natural History Area at the University of Minnesota. He received his Ph.D. in 1976 from the University of Michigan. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He is one of the world’s leading ecologists, blending theoretical and experimental work seamlessly. His classic research created the benchmark model for determining how different organisms within an ecosystem compete for resources, and his field experiments and theoretical insights have helped to alert scientists to the fact that the reduction in the number of plant and animal species on the planet has a profound effect on the way the earth’s ecosystems function. He has been a member of numer- ous NRC studies and was a member of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Editorial Board and the Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology.

Next: Appendix D: Biographical Sketches for Speakers and Discussants, NRC Colloquium on the Water Implications of Biofuels Production in the United States »
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National interests in greater energy independence, concurrent with favorable market forces, have driven increased production of corn-based ethanol in the United States and research into the next generation of biofuels. The trend is changing the national agricultural landscape and has raised concerns about potential impacts on the nation's water resources. To help illuminate these issues, the National Research Council held a colloquium on July 12, 2007 in Washington, DC. Water Implications of Biofuels Production in the United States, based in part on discussions at the colloquium, concludes that if projected future increases in use of corn for ethanol production do occur, the increase in harm to water quality could be considerable from the increases in fertilizer use, pesticide use, and soil erosion associated with growing crops such as corn. Water supply problems could also develop, both from the water needed to grow biofuels crops and water used at ethanol processing plants, especially in regions where water supplies are already overdrawn. The production of "cellulosic ethanol," derived from fibrous material such as wheat straw, native grasses, and forest trimmings is expected to have less water quality impact but cannot yet be produced on a commerical scale. To move toward a goal of reducing water impacts of biofuels, a policy bridge will likely be needed to encourage growth of new technologies, best agricultural practies, and the development of traditional and cellulosic crops that require less water and fertilizer and are optimized for fuel production.

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