A celebration highlighting graduate student research and creative activity, this session gives students the chance to showcase their research or creative activity, to communicate their results to others, and to learn about other areas of research and creative activity.

Suddenly, it’s bioenergy - ethanol and biodiesel. Bioenergy to solve the climate change problem caused by greenhouse gases. Bioenergy to inject vitality into declining rural communities. Bioenergy to free us from international oil villains. But wait… Bioenergy will drive food prices up and starve the poor by appropriating the food supply for energy. Bioenergy will ruin our livestock sector. Bioenergy will deforest the tropics and desertify the plains. Bioenergy will benefit farm landowners, but no one else. And bioenergy will happen only with billions of dollars of subsidies - can we afford it? In this course, students will evaluate the prospects for biofuels in the context of climate change and the world energy market. Participants will first review climate change assessments and the relationship of climate change to world energy markets, and will then examine the potential role of biofuels in reducing carbon emissions. Issues to be addressed include the potential effects of biofuels on food security and on natural resource sustainability, and a comparison of biofuel subsidies versus carbon taxes in mitigating climate change. Participants will be expected to research and report on scientific studies, and to learn and utilize various approaches to cost-benefit evaluation of public policies. Our goal is not to resolve the difficult questions raised above, but help students to sharpen their ability to analyze them and perhaps to more effectively advocate world-saving choices.

“Molecular biology of the Bacillus thuringiensis with emphasis on genetic engineering and safety,” will be presented by Dr. Brian Federici, University of California-Riverside. A reception will be held at 3:30 p.m. The event is open to the public.

If you’re thinking about applying to graduate school next year, or even three years from now, attend this workshop and learn about the process. We’ll provide a general overview of the graduate application process—from identifying a good program fit to preparing application materials—and talk about what you can do NOW to improve your chances of being admitted. Facilitator: Richard Lombardo, PhD