A Year in Review
Over the past year, the Natural Resources Management & Development Institute (NRMDI) has focused on collaboration, infrastructure and program development. In addition to coordinating the efforts of the Center for Bioenergy and Bioproducts, and the Auburn University Water Resources Center, NRMDI integrated the Advanced Semiconductor Materials Research Program, and the Auburn University Environmental Institute into our operation.
We participated in a host of special events, lectures, seminars, briefings and press conferences intended to introduce NRMDI to the state and region as a home for natural resource research and outreach expertise. Further, we sought and secured a variety of extramural funding to support and enhance our programs.
As our expertise and experience has grown, we have organized our resources around an array of programs, each dedicated to advancing integrated research and outreach around a specific area of interest. A selection of accomplishments from two of our more established programs is included below:
Center for Bioenergy and Bioproducts
- Completed a comprehensive strategic plan
- Began initial construction phases for a new Bioenergy and Bioproducts Laboratory on campus
- Established Auburn Energy Partners Program to provide small-scale biodiesel systems for use by:
- Farms (Dee River Ranch)
- Municipalities (City of Gadsden)
- Businesses
- Developed Mobile Biomass Gasification Unit to demonstrate renewable and distributed energy concepts statewide
- Partnered with ADECA to host the Alabama Agricultural Energy Conference
- Initiated on-campus biodiesel production through capture of used cooking oil from AU dining halls
Auburn University Water Resources Center
- Completed a comprehensive strategic plan
- Hosted a national water conference
- At the request of the Alabama Farmer’s Federation, facilitated roundtable discussions concerning:
- Agricultural Water Usage
- State Water Data Availability
- Issued a request for integrated watershed research project proposals for two Alabama river basins
- Projects to examine impacts on watershed economy and ecology with changes in land use/land cover
- Reviewed and subsequently funded two of the proposals submitted
- Initiated the Montgomery Aquifer Project in cooperation with:
- Montgomery Water Authority
- Geological Survey of Alabama
- Alabama Association of Resource Conservation and Development Councils
- Auburn University’s Center for Forest Sustainability
External Funding
When the Natural Resource Management & Development Institute was established it was charged with developing self-funding strategies. To that end we have retained a development officer and have secured external funds totaling almost $2 million to be used for programmatic support.
Our Future
Exciting opportunities for research and outreach emerge daily on the NRMDI horizon. By the end of 2008, NRMDI and its Center for Bioenergy and Bioproducts will be the home to one-of-a-kind fractionation and gasification laboratories. In partnership with commodity groups and associations in the state and region we will use these facilities as the foundation for additional technology development, and for further collaboration with research centers around the nation.
In the months to come, the Water Resources Center will begin providing critical data and analysis that will be required for Alabama to put forth a comprehensive, integrated water management plan. Through this focus, policy makers will have information available to balance and address issues regarding water quantity, quality and use as it relates to business, municipal, rural, recreational and land-owner concerns.
Over the next several years, motorists traveling along I-85 between Auburn and Montgomery will encounter a new and truly unique destination—the E.V. Smith Natural Resources Discovery Complex. Featuring a proposed learning campus and visitor park, this complex will merge public amenities with educational facilities. Guests will be able to experience first-hand the work of the Natural Resources Management & Development Institute and its constituent units, including opportunities to view a biofuels pilot plant, energy crops being grown and processed, watershed studies along the Tallapoosa River, as well as raised boardwalks and walking trails. Visitors will also be offered a variety of nature-based activities including kayaking, fishing, birding and hiking.
The water and energy issues facing our state are complex; however, within Auburn’s Natural Resources Management & Development Institute and its related programs, research, extension and outreach exist to form comprehensive approaches for meeting today’s challenges and embracing tomorrow’s opportunities.