19th Annual California Bioresources Alliance Symposium

19th Annual California Bioresources Alliance Symposium Recordings

DAY 1: Tuesday, November 19th 

8:00 – 8:30 am Check-in  

8:30 – 8:45 am  Welcome (Recording)

• Lauren Fondahl, Biosolids Coordinator, Water Division, U.S. EPA Region 9 
• Jonna Mazet, Vice Provost, UC Davis Grand Challenges 

8:45 – 9:15 am Opening Keynote by Krystal Acierto, Deputy Secretary for Public Policy, Cal EPA (Recording)

9:15 – 10:00 am Session 1: Transformation through Collaboration (Recording)

• Moderated by Paul Dodd, Associate Vice Chancellor, UC Davis Grand Challenges 
  • Krystal Acierto, Deputy Secretary for Public Policy Cal EPA 
  • Karen McDonald, Professor Emerita, UC Davis Chemical Engineering
    Transformation Through Collaboration: Opportunities in Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing
    
  • Dan Noble, Executive Director, Association of Compost Producers
    Framework of the Bioresources Industry
    
  • Jim DiPasquale, Wood & Biomass Utilization Program Manager, USFS
    Wood & Biomass Utilization Program: Why is Wood Utilization Needed? 
  • Dan Adler, Deputy Director for Climate Finance, IBank
    Financing California’s Climate and Sustainability Goals

10:00 – 11:15 am Session 2A: Biorefining (Recording)

• Moderated by Michael Long, Principal, Long Thermochemical 
  • Mike Hart, CEO, Sierra Energy; CEO, Sierra Railroad Company
    Sierra Railroad Company: California’s Green Hydrogen Solution
    
  • Paul Erickson, Professor, UC Davis Mechanical & Aeronautical Engineering
    A Reasonable Pathway toward Sustainability 
  • Greg Shipley, CEO and Founder, Bioenergy Design, LLC
    The WRT Testing – Engineering Program
    
  • Brian Bauer, CEO, Resynergi /Roger Ruan, Professor, University of Minnesota Dept. of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering; Center for Biorefining
    

11:15 – 11:30 am Break 

11:30 – 12:30 am Session 2B: Biorefining (Recording)

• Moderated by Steve Kaffka, Emeritus Professor, UC Davis Cooperative Extension  
  • Eric Mayer, Founder, NapaChar
    Biochar in the Vineyard – From Burn Piles to Biochar in Napa & Sonoma
    
  • Rod Kux, Operations Lead, Takachar Limited
    Decentralized Biochar Production to Scale Carbon Removal and Rural Climate Justice
    
  • Jeff Greef, CEO, Plumas Wood Fiber
    Producing Horticultural Potting Substrate from Forest Biomass
    
  • Ruihong Zhang, Professor, UC Davis Biological and Agricultural Engineering
    Renewable Energy Anaerobic Digester (READ) as Biorefinery Powerhouse
    

12:30 – 1:30 pm Lunch and Poster Session 

1:30 – 2:30 pm Session 3: Alternative Technologies (Recording)

• Moderated by James Dunbar, General Manager, Lystek International 
  • Ramin Yazdani, Associate Professional Researcher, Air Quality Research Center, UC Davis
    Organic Waste and Biosolids Management: Challenges & Opportunities 
  • Russel Adams, President/CEO, Advanced Organic Methods Inc.
    PyReformer​​​​™​​ Technology for Efficient Production of Hydrogen, Fuel Gases, and Activated Carbon From Woody Biomass
    
  • Valeria La Saponara, Professor, UC Davis Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Harnessing Fungi for Climate Change Mitigation and Contaminant Remediation
    
  • Brian Kolodji, Founder and CEO, Kolodji Corp/Black Swan LLC
    Rapidly Scalable to 2 million Tons/Year of CO2 by 2027- Free Air Carbon dioxide Enrichment (FACE) Makes Profit Capturing Carbon
    

2:30 – 3:30 pm Session 4: Bioresource Contaminant Management (Recording)

• Moderator: Maile Lono-Batura, Director of Renewable Resource Program, CASA 
  • Joseph Yonkoski, Superintendent, Central Heating and Cooling Plant, UC Davis
    Contamination in Food Waste at the UC Davis Biodigester
  • Lynda Paxton, Principal, Waste Reduction Enterprises, LLC/Phenix Resources
    Transforming Waste to Resource: Pioneering a Zero-Waste Future Through Municipal Solid Resource Innovation
  • Angel Zhang, Environmental Scientist, CalRecycle/Sandrine Matiasek, Associate Professor, CSU Chico
    Straw Wattle and Compost Filter Sock Performance for Retaining Stormwater Contaminants Following the 2018 Camp Fire

3:30 – 3:45 pm Break 

3:45 – 4:45 pm Session 5: Community Bioresources (Recording)

• Moderated by Michael Theroux, Vice President, JDMT Inc. 
  • Christopher Danch, Executive Director, Ojai Valley Fire Safe Council
    Introduction to the Ojai Valley Community Resilience Centers Project
    
  • Knud Balslev, Director, Mercurius Biorefining
    Creating Carbon Negative Fuels & Materials from Biomass
    
  • Fernando Mora, Pomo Tribe
    Refining California’s Future
  • Boon-Ling Yeo, Research Scientist, UC Davis Biological and Agricultural Engineering Forest Resource and Renewable Energy Decision Support System 

4:45 – 5:00 pm Wrap Up 

5:00 – 5:30 pm Lightning Presentations  

5:30 – 7:00 pm Reception 

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DAY 2: Wednesday, November 20th 

8:00 – 8:45 am Optional Coffee/Tea and Networking 

8:45 – 9:00 am Welcome and Announcements 

• Lauren Fondahl, Biosolids Coordinator, Water Division, U.S. EPA Region 9 

9:00 – 10:15 am Session 6: The Future of Compost (Recording)

• Moderator: Jeff Ziegenbein, President, CA Association of Compost Producers 
  • Regina Guerra, Founder and CEO, Be the Earth
    Natural Organic Reduction: On Body Composting with Be the Earth
    
  • Patrick Beckett, Vice President of Quality and R & D, BioFiltroVermifiltration: A Nature-Based Water Resource Recovery Technology for Circular Food and Agriculture
    
  • Dan Noble, President, Noble Bioresources, Inc.
    Emerging Biofertilizer Production
  • Darek Trowbridge, Owner, Old World Winery
    Woody Biomass Composting 

10:15 – 10:30 am Break 

10:30 – 11:45 am Session 7: Research and Regional Innovation Opportunities (Recording)

• Moderator: Ruihong Zhang, Professor, UC Davis Biological and Agricultural Engineering 
  • Somayeh Nassiri, Professor, UC Davis Civil and Environmental Engineering
    Use of Agricultural and Wood Residues in Concrete: Opportunities and Challenges
  • Somen Nandi, Adjunct Faculty in Chemical Engineering, Founder & Managing Director, Global Healthshare Initiative
    Perspective and Power of Plant Synthetic Biology: Personal Perspective
    
  • Christopher Simmons, Dept. Chair and Professor, UC Davis Food Science & Technology
    Harnassing Residual ç Matter from California Fruit and Nut Processing to Produce Diverse Byproducts
    
  • Sanjai J. Parikh, Associate Professor, UC Davis Dept of Land, Air, and Water Resources
     
  • Gabriel Youtsey, Chief Innovation Officer, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources
    Future Food: Pioneering a Tech-Enabled Regenerative Food System in Forgotten California and Nevada
    

11:45 – 12:00 pm Wrap-Up Final Discussion and Q&A (Recording)

• Lauren Fondahl, Biosolids Coordinator, Water Division, U.S. EPA Region 9 
• Ruihong Zhang, Professor, UC Davis Biological and Agricultural Engineering 
• Paul Dodd, Associate Vice Chancellor, UC Davis Grand Challenges 
• Dan Noble, President, Noble Bioresources, Inc. 
• Michael Theroux, Vice President, JDMT Inc. 

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Optional Additional Activity 

12:00 – 1:00 pm Lunch for Tour Participants 

1:00 Optional Tours –  

UC Davis Renewable Energy Anaerobic Digester (READ; UC Davis Campus) 

Sierra Northern Railway Zero Emission Hydrogen Fuel Cell Locomotive (West Sacramento) 

Lystek’s Fairfield OMRC Site (Fairfield)