Frederick's February Climate Summit Debrief

by Justin McPherson* (Advanced Biofuels USA) Perfectly aligned with the tradition of First Saturday in Frederick Maryland, this month Mobilize Frederick hosted its 2nd Annual Climate Summit on the beautifully manicured campus of Hood College.

February 2nd and 3rd saw many local organizations convened at their respective tables set up in the Whitaker Campus Center at Hood, united under the goal of educating the willing public on opportunities to reduce their carbon footprint and live a lifestyle more aligned with the concepts of stewardship to the planet and environmental sustainability.

Visitors on these days were welcomed with a warm “Hood Hello” and a flock of climate activists eager to share information on their respective solutions to minimize carbon emissions in their various sectors. From farmers, lawyers, ornithologists, and even the town’s mayor and other civil servants, all participants had the opportunity to engage with like-minded individuals on the litany of solutions to our shared climate conscious goals.

The choice of Hood College as a co-sponsor and host for the event’s second iteration demonstrates the intentionality of organizers to enlighten as many people as possible on different solutions being worked on in many sectors affected by the Earth’s changing climate.

Hood College’s biology department has participated in this revolution through their enzymatic research headed by Dr. Craig Laufer along with Frederick-based Atlantic Biomass. Students are working to optimize enzymes that convert lignocellulosic biomass (mainly agricultural waste products) into industrially valuable products such as biofuels which will one day prove quite invaluable a tool in countering climate change. Ohio State and the University of Maryland at Eastern Shore also have been valuable partners toward these research efforts both working on their own contributions to these innovative processes being developed.

Recently, a team of biologists from Hood College, affectionately named BlazerBloom (after the campus mascot), Blaze, have been named as one of 15 finalists in the U. S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) Algae Prize competition. Each of the finalists were required to submit a 10 page proposal for a research project and the 5 top teams are to win $10,000 in funding toward their research proposal. Further, there is a $15,000 prize for the one team that will be deemed the Grand Champion!

This two day summit brought together many individuals eager to learn and understand ways to make their lives more ecologically sustainable from considerations about the fuel used in transportation to how we access the Internet.

Every individual has the ability and option to live in a manner that reduces their carbon emissions. Although some more “traditional” solutions such as purchasing a battery electric vehicle or installing solar panels on one's home, can be slightly cost prohibitive, there exists a litany of simpler solutions that even college students can implement in their day to day lives and share these benefits with their families.

The critical goal is to educate our communities on the availability of these more environmentally sustainable options as we move toward a future where economics and the environment both play their key central roles in our constantly advancing modern lives.

*Justin McPherson is interning at Advanced Biofuels USA while working on his MS in Biotechnology at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. He hopes to work on the business side of a sustainable, science-based organization.