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The U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) announced the availability of $2.9 million in funding for research to improve biorefinery technologies. The Integrated Biorefinery Optimization program is coordinated and co-funded jointly between NIFA and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office. Eligible applicants include state agricultural experiment stations, colleges and universities, and other public and private U.S. research organizations. Funding may be used to reduce risk and provide resources to accelerate commercialization of advanced or cellulosic biofuels and bioproducts. Applications are due by April 3, 2017.
 Registration is now open for the 93rd Annual Agricultural Outlook Forum, Feb. 23-24, Arlington, Va. This year's theme is A New Horizon: The Future of Agriculture. Early registration closes Jan. 26.
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Food Safety Outreach Program Listening Session
The National Institute of Food and Agriculture published in
the Dec. 12, 2016, Federal Register (FR),
notice of a NIFA Stakeholder Listening Session and request for stakeholder input. The focus of the upcoming listening session is to gather
stakeholder input to develop the priorities for the Request for Applications
(RFA) in Fiscal Year 2018. NIFA is interested in reaching the intended
audience, achieving the most impact, and identifying suggested priorities for the Food Safety Outreach Program. The session
is on Tues., Jan. 31 from 1 - 3 p.m., Eastern Standard Time (EST). All
written comments must be received by 5 p.m. EST on Jan. 31, to be considered in
the initial drafting of the FY 2018 Food Safety Outreach Program request for
applications. For more details go to the FR Notice.
 The
New
York Times has
reported that 43-year-old Detroit native Rajiv J. Shah’s has been named as the
new President of the Rockefeller Foundation. Shah was already a trustee of the
foundation, and until recently was the administrator of the United States
Agency for International Development (USAID). He is also the former director of NIFA.
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 The 8th Annual Agroforestry Symposium, Enhancing Health, Conservation and Livelihoods: Medicinal Plants in Agroforestry is Jan. 26 at the Bond Life Sciences Center at the University of Missouri, Columbia, Mo. The symposium is free and open to the public; advanced registration is requested. If you wish to join via livestream, visit the official website for details.
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UVM Appoints Ross Extension Director
The University of Vermont (UVM) College of Agriculture and Life Sciences has named Chuck Ross director of UVM Extension. Ross is currently secretary of the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets, a position he has held since 2011. Prior to his role as secretary, Ross served for 16 years as state director and senior advisor under U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. Dr. Douglas Lantagne stepped down as dean and director of the University of Vermont (UVM)
Extension effective Jan. 1.
 Yesterday, President Obama
named 102 scientists and researchers as recipients of the Presidential
Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest
honor bestowed by the United States Government on science and engineering
professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers.
Among the many worthy recipients were two NIFA-funded researchers:
Dr. Michelle Cilia is a
research molecular biologist at the USDA Agricultural Research Service, an
Assistant Professor at the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI), and holds an adjunct
appointment in the School of Integrative Plant Science (SIPS) at Cornell
University. Cilia is advancing her innovative work with proteins to tackle
citrus greening disease, a bacterial infection that threatens the viability of
the citrus industry worldwide. She is part of a collaboration that received a
NIFA Specialty Crop Research Initiative grant for $10 million to discover a
solution by 2020.
Dr. Pankaj Lal, Montclair State University, was nominated for his work in assessing socioeconomic impacts of forest biomass based biofuel development on rural communities in the Southern United States. His proposal was novel and innovative in that it comprehensively addressed the entire bioenergy supply chain by using segment analyses and by integrating biophysical, social, and economic information to predict the socio- economic impacts of forest biomass-based biofuels on rural communities.
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 On Jan. 4, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture released the 2017 Update to the Coordinated Framework for the Regulation of Biotechnology and accompanying National Strategy for Modernizing the Regulatory System for Biotechnology Products. This update represents the first time in 30 years that the Federal government has produced a comprehensive summary of the roles and responsibilities of the three principal regulatory agencies with respect to regulating biotechnology products. More information about this initiative is available on the White House Website.
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NIFA invests in and advances agricultural research,
education, and extension, and seeks to make transformative discoveries that
solve societal challenges.
The NIFA Update is a weekly compendium of news and information that may be of interest to Land-Grant and non-Land-Grant Universities, NIFA stakeholders, and other subscribers.
Editor: Judy Rude
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