2015 recipients of the Jerome Goldstein Scholarship Fund for EcoEntrepreneuring (left to right): Ashley Pennington, Kevin Marceski, Alessandra Looman, Catrice Carter and Julia Burmistrova.
Jerome Goldstein (1931-2012) was the founding editor and publisher of BioCycle and founder of The JG Press, Inc. Goldstein, considered an ecopioneer for his work in supporting the composting and organics recycling industries, was a 1952 graduate of Rutgers University. Upon his passing in 2012, his family established the Jerome Goldstein Scholarship Fund for EcoEntrepreneuring to support student researchers at the Rutgers EcoComplex in Bordentown, NJ. The EcoComplex integrates composting, anaerobic digestion, compost utilization, agricultural production, renewable energy and enterprise development.
This year marks the second round of students funded by the scholarship. Five undergraduate and graduate student interns, researched and explored their topic of choice for nine weeks this summer at the EcoComplex. Rutgers faculty and EcoComplex incubator companies helped and supported the interns. Each intern made a presentation and wrote a research paper. On August 31, they presented their research and shared their analysis of their topics with professors, mentors, family, friends and members of the Goldstein family.
The following topics were presented by the 2015 scholarship recipients:
Hydrogen Production from Methane Steam Over Modified Titanium Dioxide
Ashley Pennington’s (Ph.D., Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, GSNB ’15) project focused on significantly reducing the energy required to produce hydrogen by utilizing methane steam.
Food Waste as a Feedstock for Renewable Power Production by Anaerobic Digestion
Alessandra Looman (B.S./B.S., dual degree in Bioenvironmental Engineering, ENG ’15) collected data by calling nine different types of facilities in four sectors to get their food waste generation volume. Using that data, she created an interactive data map that shows the different generation rates of many facilities in New Jersey.
Hydroponic Amaranth
Kevin Marceski (B.S., Environmental & Business Economics and Sustainability, SEBS ’16; Ag EcoEntrepreneurship intern) raised hydroponic amaranth to improve the availability of specialty foods consumed by ethnic groups in New Brunswick. He researched the science behind amaranth, as well as marketing and branding.
Environmental Assessment of Organic Polymer Light-Emitting Diodes
Catrice Carter (Ph.D., Materials and Science Engineering, GSNB, ’17) researched organic light emitting diodes. She focused on the benefits, drawbacks, and solutions by looking at assessments and system boundaries.
New Jersey Energy Resource Network Update
Julia Burmistrova (B.S., Bioenvironmental Engineering, SEBS ’17) evaluated the New Jersey Clean Energy Resource Network database website to determine options for making it more interesting and modern. She showed the process she took to achieve her goals.
Read about the 2014 recipients of the scholarship.
For more information on the scholarship, visit: http://www.biocycle.net/home/jerome-goldstein-scholarship-fund-for-ecoentrepreneuring
Present for the ceremony (left to right) : Serpil Guran (Director, Rutgers EcoComplex), Alison Goldstein Daugherty (daughter of Jerome Goldstein), Quinn Daugherty (granddaughter of Jerome Goldstein), Albert Ayeni (Rutgers Ag Entrepreneurship), Nora Goldstein (daughter of Jerome Goldstein), Ashley Pennington (recipient), Alessandra Looman (recipient), Kevin Marceski (recipient), Catrice Carter (recipient), Rill Goldstein Miller (daughter of Jerome Goldstein), Julia Burmistrova (recipient) and David Specca (Assistant Director, Rutgers EcoComplex).
