College Station, Texas
January 18, 2008
Ceres
Inc., a plant biotechnology company, has established two new
scholarships in the soil and crop sciences department at
Texas A&M University in
College Station.
The new scholarships are for junior and senior students who have
a minimum overall 2.8 grade point average. Students in plant
breeding, agronomy, plant physiology, or molecular biology with
strong interests in crop production relating to biofuels will be
given preference.
Ceres is developing crops needed by farmers and bio-refineries
for a new generation of biofuels, said company officials. Using
advanced plant breeding and biotechnology, they are creating
dedicated energy crops as raw materials for biofuels made from
plant stems, stalks and leaves.
“We are excited about establishing a long-term scholarship
relationship with Ceres to expose our students to opportunities
in bioenergy,” said Dr. David Baltensperger, department head.
Dr. Charles Rodgers, a Ceres plant breeder based in College
Station and the first commercial switchgrass breeder in the
country, said the scholarships will encourage more students to
consider careers in crop science.
“The expansion of biofuel production is creating new
opportunities in agriculture - many that simply didn’t exist
just a few years ago,” Rodgers said. “New crops are being
domesticated and developed. There (are) new sources of funding
from government and industry, and for students, new career
paths.”
Seniors Luke Manning (Columbus) and Scott Stanislav (Waco) are
the first students to receive the $2,500 scholarships. They both
expect to graduate May 2008, with bachelor’s degrees in
agronomy.
For more information, visit
http://ceres.net and
http://soilcrop.tamu.edu.
Other news
from Ceres Inc.
|
|
