Modeling Water Use in Biofuel Crops with Dr. Alexandria Kuhl

<p>“Root Water Uptake of Biofuel Crops Revealed by Coupled Electrical Resistivity and Soil Water Content Measurements” with Dr. Alexandria Kuhl</p> <p>Biofuel crops can be used to create fuel from renewable plant materials. Corn is the most common example, but as research progresses, scientists are looking to expand their biofuel crop pool to include woody perennials and ornamental grasses. These plants have a lot of positives going for them, but with longer growing seasons going head-to-head with decreasing water budgets and increasing food needs, much research is still needed to ensure these biofuel rookies can stand the economic and environmental tests of time. This episode, Alex discusses her work creating novel modeling methods to study the impacts and potential of new and promising biofuel crops.</p> <p>Tune in to learn:</p> <ul> <li>Which crops are “second-generation” biofuel crops</li> <li>How rooting depths can be measured without disturbing the soil</li> <li>Which surprising factor most affected the team’s results</li> <li>How algae might have a biofuel future</li> </ul> <p>If you would like more information about this topic, this episode’s paper is available here: <a href= "https://doi.org/10.1002/vzj2.20124">https://doi.org/10.1002/vzj2.20124</a></p> <p>This paper is always freely available.</p> <p>Contact us at <a href= "mailto:podcast@sciencesocieties.org">podcast@sciencesocieties.org</a> or on Twitter @FieldLabEarth if you have comments, questions, or suggestions for show topics, and if you want more content like this don’t forget to subscribe. If you’d like to see old episodes or sign up for our newsletter, you can do so here: <a href= "https://fieldlabearth.libsyn.com/">https://fieldlabearth.libsyn.com/</a>.</p> <p>If you would like to reach out to Alex, you can find her here:<br /> <a href="mailto:kuhlalex@msu.edu">kuhlalex@msu.edu</a><br /> Twitter: <a href= "https://twitter.com/kuhl_hydgeophy">https://twitter.com/kuhl_hydgeophy</a></p> <p>If you would like to reach out to Bailey Tangen from ou