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AHB Newsletter – Volume 6, No. 3 [Fall 2017]

Editor’s Notes

AHB wrapped up Year 6 at the end of August, and many aspects of the project have finished. But the story goes on. Over the next year, Extension will continue to bring you newsletters, webinars, and social media postings. We are updating the website and preparing reports to make sure that the results of our AHB members’ hard work is available well into the future.

In this edition:

One of AHB’s research questions was whether you could breed better varieties of poplar for bioenergy. Curious what GreenWood Resources learned, and how? Find out.

Extension had a field day (literally and figuratively) hosting Latino families at the Pilchuck Demonstration Site.

Cat Gowan tells us about the world of possibilities for processing wastewater in Oregon, including growing poplar trees.

Meet Amira Chowyuk. She’s a UW graduate student who is keeping AHB’s vision going.

Stay in touch,
Noelle

An aerial view of the Jefferson Demonstration site in Oregon. The different varieties of poplar are easily distinguished from the air by their different shades of green.

Selection of Hybrid Poplar Varieties for Bioenergy

The environment (soil conditions, water availability, etc.) impacts a poplar farm’s productivity, but so does the genetic make-up of the trees. Understanding the genetics of a plant can vastly improve our ability to predict what we’re going to grow and move us toward more desirable products.
Visit Selection of Hybrid Poplar Varieties for Bioenergy
The entire field tour group: extension volunteers and Latino community members and their kids standing/sitting in front of the poplar trees.

A Day in the Field

On a beautiful, sunny Saturday in early July, AHB held two extremely successful field tours for the Latino community at the Pilchuck Demonstration Farm. Over 75 children and adults came out to learn about bioenergy amid the poplar trees!
Visit A Day in the Field
Poplar trees grow behind a wastewater treatment pond.

Poop and Poplars: a match made in heaven?

Attending the Oregon’s Association of Clean Water Agencies (ACWA) conference was an excellent opportunity for AHB Extension to get to know more about a unique grower of poplars for ecosystem services: wastewater treatment operations.
Visit Poop and Poplars: a match made in heaven?
Amira Chowyuk

Graduate Student Spotlight: Amira Chowyuk

Amira Chowyuk is a graduate research assistant in the Biofuels and Bioproducts Lab at the University of Washington – Seattle working under Professor Rick Gustafson. She is assessing the feasibility of the construction of a biorefinery in the Lewis County, WA.
Visit Graduate Student Spotlight: Amira Chowyuk