NSF Engines Development Award: Building a climate-smart bioeconomy in upstate New York (NY)

Cornell University, Ithaca NY

Investigators

Abstract

This Regional Innovation Engines Development Award is focused on transitioning upstate New York from a fossil-fuel-dependent, economically declining region to a sustainable climate-smart bioeconomy. The current New York State legislative environment creates a timely opportunity to develop a climate-smart bioeconomy. Leveraging policies like the New York State Climate Act, the project will expand the bioeconomy in Upstate NY, a predominantly rural region with several urban centers of limited economic growth for over 30 years. The project will develop technological solutions to global sustainability challenges and a workforce ready to implement solutions. The climate-smart bioeconomy will foster a resilient supply chain via sustainable biomass management, grow the regional economy, address national competitiveness and security by reducing fossil carbon use, and support the state and nation's goal of creating a net-zero carbon economy. The climate-smart bioeconomy will become a model for how rural regions nationwide can build an ecosystem of partners and stakeholders to transform their economy by sustainably using locally available biomass and talent resources. The research, education, and entrepreneurial expertise of partner institutions - Cornell University and State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry - leveraged alongside the Cornell Cooperative Extension network, Cornell's Center for Regional Economic Advancement, the recently established NSF I-Corps Hub, and strategic partnerships among innovators, industry, entrepreneurs, job creators, policymakers, and community members, will drive use-inspired research to realize this goal. The project will develop a sustainable climate-smart bioeconomy by supporting interdisciplinary, convergent, use-inspired research across three target Areas: (1) sustainable agri-food and forestry systems; (2) climate beneficial technology and nature-based innovation; (3) bio-based industrial processes and products. This award supports two activities: site visits to regional industries (e.g., agro-industrial producers, robotics manufacturers, forestry services, training programs) and workshops with stakeholders (e.g., researchers, industry leaders, investors, government, educators, and economic developers). The goals of these activities are to identify areas of critical innovation to advance the Climate Smart Bioeconomy, training, and educational needs to grow a workforce prepared to implement sustainable climate-smart solutions, challenges faced by entrepreneurs, in particular those from underrepresented groups, and how synergistic policy advances can support the climate-smart bioeconomy. This Regional Innovation Engines Development Award will enable the team to prepare for an Engine by engaging stakeholders across the region to identify critical research, training, and innovation infrastructure needs to design an inclusive ecosystem to enable sustainable growth of the climate-smart bioeconomy. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.