BAE department graduate student and ASABE CA/NV Public Relations Chair Tyler Barzee was awarded the first ever William and Nongkarn Chancellor Graduate Fellowship. Barzee, who is specializing in the fields of Bioenvironmental Engineering and Environmental Biotechnology received this $4,000 award in support of his research. He is interested in bioprocessing technologies that can be applied to reduce the environmental footprint of humanity, especially by harnessing the energy and nutrients embodied in organic wastes. He has worked on projects relating to the processing of anaerobic digestates for production of liquid and solid biofertilizers and has tested their use in large scale experiments for growing specialty crops and microalgae. He hopes that his research will aid the development of technologies designed to derive value from materials otherwise viewed as wastes.

The fellowship was made possible by generous donations from the late Professor William J. Chancellor and his wife Nongkarn, the Chancellor family, and many of his former students. It was established in honor of the outstanding contributions made to the field of biological and agricultural engineering by the Professor Chancellor and his deep regard for and commitment to his students. Please refer to ASABE CA/NV newsletter issues 65 and 67 for more information about Dr. Chancellor.

Tyler stated in response to the award announcement, “I am extremely grateful, honored, and humbled to be chosen for this award. I will do my best to honor Professor Chancellor’s memory and spirit and work in a way that would make him proud.”

Congratulations to Tyler!