The US Endowment for Forestry and Communities announced a public/private partnership last year entitled “Public-Private Partnership for Advanced Woody Biomaterials and Nanotechnology,” or P-3 Nano.  TheEndowment on Woody Biomass and Wood-to-Energy supports the conversion of wood to heat and electricity (wood-to-energy) when compatible with traditional forest-based industries and consistent with sustainable harvesting practices and strong science. The partnership is focused on taking cellulosic nanotechnology from the lab to commercialization, and is bringing together partners in the public and private sectors to accelerate the development of innovative uses of renewable materials from forests.

In January 2014, IPST executive director Norman Marsolan was named to the science advisory board of the group.  The panel consists of government, producers, end users, and academics.  Marsolan joins Alan Rudie, USFS Forest Products Lab; Sean Ireland, Verso Paper; Phil Jones, Imerys; Jeff Youngblood, Purdue University; Sandeep Kulkarni, Pepsico Advanced Research; Dylan Boday, IBM; and others to be announced.IPST member companies are well represented on the Science Committee.

For further information on the project, contact Dr. Marsolan or see www.usendowment.org.