From turning algae into biodiesel to using nematodes as organic pesticides, the fourth annual Farm Bureau BioAg Symposium at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke revealed the entrepreneurial side of biotechnology.

Powered in part by a grant from the Robeson County Farm Bureau, UNCP’s Biotechnology Research and Training Center demonstrated its reach into agricultural science and its outreach to the region’s community colleges and corporate research labs.

Robeson Farm Bureau Agency manager Matt Adams welcomed approximately 75 people on Feb. 7 to the Regional Center at COMtech.

“The Farm Bureau truly understands the importance of agriculture to the county, region and state,” Adams said. “We’re proud to support agriculture and the research here at UNCP’s Biotechnology Center.”

The theme of this year’s Farm Bureau BioAg Symposium was “Biotechnology and Entrepreneurship in Agriculture.”

Mark Stevens would turn waste into energy as a research associate with Novozymes, the world’s largest producer of enzymes. Stevens is a 2008 UNCP graduate who worked in the university’s biodiesel program as an undergraduate.

“Cellulose is the most abundant and renewable compound on Earth,” Stevens said. “We’re working to turn municipal waste, wood byproducts and agricultural waste into biodiesel and ethanol.”

The company uses enzymes and microorganisms in a fermentation process to break down woody cell walls and unleash energy. The research is scaling up from the lab to production. To prove his point, Stevens drove an ethanol-powered automobile to the conference.

Landfill power

Southeastern Community College is using methane from a retired Columbus County landfill to power its agricultural research program in Columbus County. Rebecca Westbrooks, coordinator of SCC’s Agricultural Biotechnology Program, gave an update on the program to micropropagate Venus’ flytraps, a plant unique to Southeastern North Carolina.

With two new commercial greenhouses and 15 wells to tap methane for power, the program is “looking at how to create agricultural industries,” Westbrooks said.

“We will use one greenhouse, and the other will serve as a small business incubator that we hope some of our graduates will use,” she said.

Algae power

Brunswick Community College would turn algae into energy, said Kim Jones and Michelle Sabaoun, a pair of science instructors. They talked about the challenges and business prospects.

“Algae is the most prolific plant on Earth,” Jones said. “It’s renewable, produces oxygen from CO₂, and doesn’t compete with farm products.

“Our models indicate that 10,000 gallons of biodiesel can be produced per acre per year. There is no doubt about the potential, but it will require research to make it economically feasible.”

In 2007, Jones created a company, Alganomics, to develop commercial projects related to algae.

Nematode project

Floyd Inman, a 2010 graduate and former Farm Bureau Research Scholar at UNCP, is producing nematodes in the Biotechnology Center’s labs.

“We have moved from theory to practice with a product we call BraveGuard,” Inman said. “We are working on optimization of production and cost.”

Beneficial nematodes can serve as natural pesticides with little or no negative environmental effect, and they could become organic farmers’ best friends, according to Inman.

“There is a lot of research going on in these labs,” Inman said.

Bee project

Reginald Oxendine Jr. of Pembroke has developed a taste for honey, and he has taken over direction of UNCP’s Honey Bee Research Station, located on 25 acres in the COMtech business park. Oxendine talked about the challenges of beekeeping.

“I adopted two hives three years ago, and it took off from there,” he said. “We are willing to help and train others get into the business.

“There are opportunities like selling honey, raising queens for sale and educating young people on the importance of bees to the environment.”

Building

entrepreneurs

Mike Menefee, of UNCP’s Thomas Family Professor of Entrepreneurship, offered the services of the Thomas Family Center for new and expanding businesses.

“We do work with farms, and we are interested in the economic development of Southeastern North Carolina,” Menefee said. “Five new businesses have been started by students in our entrepreneurship programs.

“Students come up with so many great ideas for businesses. We hope to open a business incubator in the near future.”

For information about the Biotechnology Research and Training Center or the Robeson County Farm Bureau’s programs at UNCP, call 910-521-6650 or email biotech@uncp.edu. For information about the Thomas Family Center for Entrepreneurship, call 910-775-4208 or email thomasfamilycenter@uncp.edu.

Scott Bigelow is the associate director of public relations for The University of North Carolina at Pembroke.