Athens, Ga. – Lee R. Lynd, an international expert on utilization of plant biomass for the production of energy, will give the University of Georgia Charter Lecture on March 29 at 3 p.m. in the Chapel. He will address “The Sustainable Resource Transition: Systemic Change and Enabling the Improbable.” A reception in Demosthenian Hall will follow the lecture.
“People often speak about making a difference and changing the world, but Lee Lynd is actually doing it,” said Janet Westpheling, professor of genetics and a member of the Charter Lecture Committee at UGA.
Lynd is the Paul and Joan Queneau Distinguished Professor of Engineering at Dartmouth College, co-founder of Mascoma Corporation, initiator of the Global Sustainable Bioenergy Project, and has been featured in prominent fora such as Wired, Forbes, Nova, and the Nobel Conference.
Lynd has been a frequent speaker on the strategic and technical aspects of plant biomass as a sustainable energy source. He is the coordinator of the Global Sustainable Bioenergy Project and the lead for biomass deconstruction and conversion at the U.S. Department of Energy’s BioEnergy Science Center in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
Lynd’s broad contributions span the fields of science, technology and public policy and include leading research on microbial cellulose utilization. He has led an active research group addressing these issues during the last quarter century, authoring more than 120 publications.
Lynd is a Fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the inaugural recipient of the Lemelson-MIT Sustainability Prize for Inventions and Innovations that Enhance Economic Opportunity and Community Well-Being While Protecting and Restoring the Natural Environment, the 2005 winner of the Charles D. Scott award for distinguished contributions to the field of biotechnology for fuels and chemicals, a two-time recipient of the Charles A. Lindbergh Award in recognition of his efforts to promote a balance between environmental preservation and technological advancement, and was chosen by the National Science Foundation to be a Presidential Young Investigator.
The Charter Lecture Series was established in 1988 to honor the high ideals expressed in the 1785 charter that created the University of Georgia as the first chartered state university in America. The series brings to campus speakers who discuss ideas of general importance to a free society. Previous speakers have included Howard H. Baker Jr., a former U.S. senator from Tennessee; Daniel Schorr, a veteran reporter and commentator; as well as Pulitzer Prize winners, poet laureates, scientists, medical experts, leading attorneys and religious leaders.
The UGA Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost sponsors the Charter Lecture Series.
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