Top Stories
Waterloo HS Career Fair Features NCERC's "Careers in Biotechnology" Job Shadow Program
On Friday, February 17, the NCERC team attended the Waterloo High School Career Fair in Waterloo, IL and met with dozens of sophomore and junior grade-level students. During the fair, they informed students about the career opportunities in biotechnology and NCERC's job shadow program, which helps students learn about potential careers through shadowing NCERC staff.

This team, which includes Director of Business Development Jackie Hayes and PR/social media intern Allison Simpson, and Market Research/Business Development Intern Nadia Graber, will also be at a career fair at Mascoutah High School on March 10.
Caupert Featured on The Cereal Grain Café Podcast
In his second episode of the Cereal Grain Café podcast, Dr. Kurt Rosentrater talks with NCERC Executive Director John Caupert. They discuss the exciting grain processing projects that happen at NCERC and how they help the bioeconomy evolve.

This is a new podcast about "all things related to cereal grains" and features friend-of-the-Center Dr. Kurt Rosentrater and guests from across the industry.
Illinois FFA State Officers Visits NCERC
On February 14, the 2022-2023 Illinois FFA State Officers visited NCERC to learn about the hands-on learning opportunities for high school students and the exciting ways NCERC is preparing the future generation for careers in agriculture and biotechnology.

During their visit, they took at tour of the facility, which was led by Operations Manager Jared Burns.

A special thanks to Riley Duckworth with the IL FFA Center, and the officers, Rachel Hood, Derek Sample, Levi Maierhofer, Haley Bode, and Kate Colgan.
International Day of Women & Girls in Science
To commemorate "International Day for Women and Girls in Science", NCERC's marketing/PR team featured three scientists on our social media who work in our laboratory and represent women in science at three different phases of their careers.

Violet Swanson is a Chemistry student at SIUE who is currently working at NCERC as an intern.

Krystin Polhemus is a recent college graduate who serves our team as a Visiting Research Fellow.

Dr. Yan Zhang serves as NCERC's Director of Research with decades of experience in science.

Check out their videos by clicking their names above!
ICYMI: NCERC Enters Celebrates its 20th Year of Operations in 2023
NCERC enters its 20th year of operations in 2023 after two decades of leadership in the biofuels industry. After opening its doors in October 2003, NCERC has served as the primary location for innovation in the corn ethanol industry. Now, NCERC’s clients have evolved to include companies from across the bioindustrial manufacturing sector who benefit from its unique facility and expert staff.
Save the Date! Green Drives Edwardsville
On August 11, 2023, NCERC will host the Green Drives Conference and Expo at SIUE. The Green Drives Edwardsville event is the first down-state event hosted by the Illinois Alliance for Clean Transportation now that they have expanded state-wide. We'll be sharing more in the future so stay tuned for the opportunity to register.
Save the Date! ALAKA'I 2023 Workshops
Successful transformation to the bioeconomy requires cross-disciplinary fluency informed by robust guiding principles on what it means to be sustainable. ALAKAʻI (Applied Life Science Academy: Knowledge Advancing Industry) is creating short, non-credit educational modules that address these needs so bioeconomy professionals can be more effective leaders.

Indigenous Hawaiian and Pacific Island perspectives on sustainability are increasingly informative for addressing climate change while enhancing communities and improving standards of living. ALAKAʻI trainings in technical, business, and social considerations for building the bioeconomy will be complemented by these perspectives, including the ways of waʻa (canoe), voyaging, and societies that endured for centuries in isolated island environments.

NCERC is part of the planning committee and we will have two sessions on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi in 2023:
  • July 12 – 14 in Hilo for cultural perspectives on sustainability and how they can inform appropriate economic activity
  • July 17 – 19 in Kona for technical, business, and regulatory issues necessary for a successful transition to the bioeconomy -- NCERC will be contributing to the workshops during this week.

We will also have cultural and sustainability immersion activities over the intervening weekend. Professionals from all level within their organizations are encouraged to attend. For more information, including hotel block reservations, please sign up for our distribution list at bioecon@hawaii.edu!
Research Updates
Orchard Waste-to-Biofuel
With support from an industry partner who has provided woody biomass samples from California almond and walnut orchards, NCERC is in the process of scaling up a woody biomass to biofuel project in January and February 2023. We anticipate performing multiple 5L runs and hope to scale up to 100L by the end of February. Dr. Mingjun Ma, NCERC's postdoctoral research fellow is leading the project. This is a critical project for gathering data for NCERC's proprietary low cost/low carbon pretreatment method for cellulosic feedstock to biofuel conversion.

Quantifying Ethyl Carbamate Detection Levels
Thanks to the support of the Renewable Fuels Association, NCERC is completing a project on the quantification of ethyl carbamate in DDGS sampled from 33 US ethanol plants. As of February 2, 2023, we're still in need of 7 samples from ethanol plants, and if you'd like to contribute a sample, please contact Jackie at jhayes@ethanolresearch.com.

Corn Kernel Fiber Conversion
For multiple years, NCERC has been developing and validating a proprietary method to accurately quantify the converted fraction of corn kernel fiber via in situ fermentation. We're currently in the process of running the method on industry samples and hope to present the results at industry conferences in 2023.
Connections & Visits
SIUE Staff Senate Meeting
Edwardsville, IL
February 2

Tour for IL FFA
Edwardsville, IL
February 14

Waterloo High School Career Fair
Waterloo, IL
February 17

Annual Meeting of Mon-Clair Corn Growers 
Waterloo, IL
February 21

Danforth Young Friends Meeting
St. Louis, MO
February 23

Renewable Fuels Association's National Ethanol Conference
Orlando, FL
February 28 - March 2
Upcoming Meetings
Mascoutah High School Job Fair
Mascoutah, IL
March 10

St. Louis Agribusiness Club Meeting
St. Louis, MO
March 14

Growth Energy's Executive Leadership Conference
Dana Point, CA
March 15 - 18

Hill Visits with Key Elected Officials
Washington, DC
March 21 & 22

Advanced Bioeconomy Leadership Conference
Washington, DC
March 22 - 24
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National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center (NCERC)
400 University Park Drive, Edwardsville, IL 62025
618-659-6737 | ethanolresearch.com