University of North Florida researcher awarded USDA grant to study switchgrass for biofuel

In Florida, an assistant professor of biology at the University of North Florida, was just awarded nearly half a million dollars from the USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture to study switchgrass as a viable plant-based biofuel.

The study aims to provide new insight into the factors that regulate the productivity and sustainability of switchgrass and will be funded for three years from a grant awarded to UNF totaling $462,500.

As a native, wild species, switchgrass doesn’t require many resources like fertilizer. But given that the species has a huge range—Mexico to Canada, East of the Rockies—there’s tremendous genetic variation within the species, says Aspinwall.