College science students are being invited to apply for scholarships to attend the National Biodiesel Conference & Expo, Jan. 25 – 28 in Tampa, Florida. The National Biodiesel Board, the United Soybean Board and the National Biodiesel Foundation are offering a $500 travel scholarship with the application deadline of Nov. 12.
Next Generation Scientists for Biodiesel is an NBB program intended to foster professional relationships between budding and established scientists, share accurate information and increase collaboration with academia and the biodiesel industry.
Student opportunities include a poster session and breakout session to present their research, a preconference biodiesel educational overview and a mentoring lunch with prominent biodiesel scientists.
Last year, more than 30 students attended the event from schools like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Colorado – Boulder, the University of California – Davis and Appalachian State University, among others.
Many of the students, who came from a wide range of disciplines, noted the intellectual impact the event made on them.
“By communicating with people directly involved in the biodiesel industry, I learned more about biodiesel than I ever would from reading an article or watching a video,” said Courtney Swink, an undergraduate marine science major at the University of South Carolina. “I had no idea that the biodiesel industry was so huge and rapidly expanding, from the farmers producing feedstock to the engineers selling pumps to the owners of production plants and the transportation of fuel.”