Steven Safferman, associate professor of biosystems and agricultural engineering at MSU and a MSU Extension educator, will present “Transforming Waste to Resource: Decision Support Tools” 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 29 at the MSU Bioeconomy Institute in Holland, Michigan.
“While we think of wastes as no longer having a useful purpose, agricultural wastes often contain valuable resources: water, nutrients and embedded energy from carbon,” Safferman said. “Technologies are available to transform these wastes back to resources.”
In his presentation, Safferman will discuss two recently developed tools to facilitate the use of waste-to-resource technologies: the Michigan Waste Biomass Energy Inventory to Support Renewable Energy Development, and the Anaerobic Digestion Development Iterative Tool. The event is free and open to the public
Before joining Michigan State in 2005, Safferman served as a faculty member at the University of Dayton and an environmental engineer at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. He has a master’s degree and a doctorate in environmental engineering and a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, all from the University of Cincinnati, and holds an Ohio professional engineering license.