Environmental problems created by our dependence on fossil fuels, such as global climate change, are driving the search for renewable sources of energy, chemicals, and materials. While petroleum resources are highly concentrated in a few countries, biomass constitutes a more globally distributed resource. The PIRE research program serves to investigate critical steps in the chemical transformations of biomass-derived reactants into clean burnings fuels and other useful products.
The PIRE: Molecular Engineering for the Conversion of Biomass Derived Reactants to Fuels, Chemicals, and Materials program provides international research internship opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students.
The NSF PIRE program based out of the University of New Mexico is a collaborative partnership between educators and researchers at 8 institutions, spanning both the United States and Europe, and is also the international componenent of the NSF Engineering Research Center (ERC) for Biorenewable Chemicals based out of Iowa State University.
The UNM PIRE Program is funded by NSF grant OISE 0730277.