Newswise — Researchers at Michigan Technological University and Oak Ridge National Laboratory are analyzing what attracts private forest owners to programs to produce bioenergy from forest biomass. Michigan Tech Assistant Professor Audrey Mayer is working with Virginia Dale, a scientist at Oak Ridge, to examine the incentives most likely to appeal to forest owners.
They will study private forests in Appalachia and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. They are looking at northern versus southern owners to see how their unique characters and quirks factor into the impact of various incentive initiatives.
Mayer has a dual appointment at Michigan Tech in forestry and social sciences. Much of her research involves global sustainability. Her background is in ecology and environmental policy. She is interested in forest products in general, and fuel, fiber and food in particular.
“I think we’re in a very historic time,” she says. “We have the opportunity to make choices and build different societies that will dictate how life is going to be in the next fifty to one hundred years. We can really shape the course of what society becomes.”
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