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AHB Newsletter – Volume 5, No. 1 [Spring 2016]

Editor’s Notes

March greetings from the AHB team! We are busy getting ready for our upcoming National Poplar/Willow Forum April 11 – 13 in Portland, Oregon and look forward to having you join us! We are excited to bring experts from around the country and the globe to delve into the environmental benefits of both poplar and willow and their potential in the renewable fuels industry.

In this edition of AHB news, learn how people are being trained for increasing opportunities in the bioenergy workforce. New and expanded offerings in the Plant Operations program at Walla Walla Community College’s Ag Center of Excellence are providing rich educational and industry experience for first time and returning students.

Our industry partner GreenWood Resources recently sold the Boardman Poplar Farm in eastern Oregon. Find out how that development impacts purpose-grown poplar biomass farms for the AHB project and beyond.

Biodiesel anyone? Middle school students in Darrington, Washington recently learned how different types of energy effect their lives and what they can do to foster cleaner energy now and in the future.

Meet Brian Hartman! As a doctoral candidate at Oregon State University, Brian combines his dedication to science education and engineering as he assists instructors learn how to best integrate both disciplines with students.

Mixed feelings about current gas prices? Find out what AHB team members think when they fill up at the pump!

Betsy Fradd
Washington State University Extension

Willow, like Poplar, can be grown for a variety of environmental and bioenergy purposes. Learn about them at the National Working Forum from April 11-13, 2016.

National Working Forum: Managing Poplar and Willow for Environmental Benefits and the Renewable Fuels Industry

April 11 – 13, Portland, Oregon Join stakeholders from across the nation to discuss, develop key action items, and make recommendations on how to move poplar and willow biomass from environmental plantings toward commercial use for bioenergy and biochemicals.
Students in the Plant Operations program at WWCC preparing food waste for composting with chipper.

Bioenergy Workforce:

Expanding Program Provides New Courses and Industry Experience to New and Returning Students By Betsy Fradd, WSU Extension Chris Madsen needed to change careers. After owning and operating his own construction business for over twenty…
Poplar trees growing at the Boardman Tree Farm in eastern Oregon.

Poplar Farm Sale Expected to Have Minimal Impact on AHB Project

GreenWood Resources recently completed the sale of the 25,000-acre Boardman Poplar Farm in eastern Oregon that it has managed over the past eight years on behalf of the owners of the GreenWood Tree Farm investment fund.
Students stand in a circle playing a carbon balloon game.

Biodiesel Now and For the Future

Middle School Students Examine Renewables By Betsy Fradd, WSU Extension It’s all about the possibilities. For a group of middle school students in the small logging town of Darrington, Washington turning fry grease into biodiesel…
Brian Hartman

Graduate Student Spotlight: Brian Hartman

Brian Hartman is currently a doctoral candidate in the science education program at Oregon State University. Trained in both engineering and biology, he taught middle school and high school science for five years. He also…
The AHB team came together at the UW Center of Urban Horticulture for the 2015 Annual Meetiing

What goes through your mind when you see gas so low at the pump?

Members of the AHB team answer the question Boon-Ling Yeo Postdoctoral scholar Energy Institute, UC Davis It is cheaper than milk! Market forces alone will not be sufficient to get Americans to switch from traditional…