UMaine hosting sustainable agriculture, renewable energy conference

Photo / James McCarthy Dan Bell, general manager of Agri-Cycle Energy, and Adam Wintle, managing partner of Exeter Agri-Energy. As part of the four-day Northeast Agricultural and Biological Engineering Conference, attendees will visit the facilities in Exeter.

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By Staff

The flagship campus of the University of Maine will be hosting the Northeast Agricultural and Biological Engineering Conference next week, a four-day event covering sustainable agriculture and renewable energy.

According to a release from UMaine, about 75 participants, including UMaine faculty members, graduate and undergraduate students are expected to attend, along with researchers from other universities, private-sector engineers and science professionals and government agencies.

The conference will include research presentations, a student poster competition, panel discussions and tours of UMaine’s Orono facilities, including the Advanced Structures and Composites Center.

Attendees will also pay a visit to the Howland Dam fish bypass, where recent work was completed as part of the Penobscot River Restoration Project. They also will visit the Exeter-based Agri-Energy, a renewable energy company that converts animal and food waste into heat and electricity, as well as other environmentally responsible products, according to a release.

UMaine President Susan J. Hunter is scheduled to deliver a welcome speech Monday which will be followed by keynote addresses by Ed Ashworth, dean of the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture and Habib Dagher, executive director of UMaine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center.