Today’s top 5 from Purdue University

Purdue News Now

From $51 million in federal funding for the Heartland BioWorks tech hub to Purdue’s recently announced shuttle service between the West Lafayette and Indianapolis campuses, Trevor Peters has you covered with all the latest headlines in this week’s “Purdue News Now.”

Plus, check out five good stories below you may have missed.

Digital forestry can help mitigate and prevent wildfires

Land managers and governments are waging a high-stakes battle against decades-long wildfire increases. Technology can play a critical role in extinguishing that threat, according to researchers at Purdue University’s Institute for Digital Forestry. Using digital forestry, researchers can identify the areas of highest risk that affect large populations and valuable infrastructure. Purdue’s efforts include developing innovative remote sensing technology — from drone to satellite — to determine the probability and magnitude of wildfires at a given location.

Media contact: Maureen Manier, mmanier@purdue.edu

Purdue, Heartland BioWorks partners secure $51M in federal funding for regional tech hub

Purdue University, as a member of Heartland BioWorks, will share $51 million in federal funding to bolster workforce development and business startup efforts in the state’s burgeoning biotechnology ecosystem. Awarded by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration, the funding will catalyze Indiana’s biotechnology innovation and manufacturing efforts, which are a pillar of Purdue’s recently announced One Health Innovation District.

Media contact: Wes Mills, wemills@purdue.edu 

AP Video – What do Americans think of the farm bill?

Joe Balagtas, a professor of agricultural economics in Purdue University’s College of Agriculture and the director of the Center for Food Demand Analysis and Sustainability, discusses the level of support consumers have for aspects of the U.S. farm bill. This comprehensive piece of legislation deals with historically controversial agricultural food policies, including funding for farm subsidies and food assistance programs. The report found that among liberal, moderate and conservative consumers, 71% of respondents support spending on farm subsidies and 72% support federal funding for nutrition assistance programs. In a time of political polarization, these two key aspects of the farm bill seem to have broad support across the ideological spectrum.

Media contact: Trevor Peters, peter237@purdue.edu

Purdue leading $6M DOE-sponsored research for small modular reactor and advanced reactor technologies

Purdue University’s long-standing leadership in nuclear energy technologies research has resulted in a $6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to lead a consortium that will revitalize nuclear research facilities and expand university-led research for small modular reactor and advanced reactor technologies. The group consists of five universities and colleges and two national labs, which will work to upgrade research facilities, increase their capabilities and develop programs to educate the future nuclear energy workforce.

Media contact: Amy Raley, araley@purdue.edu

What’s in a name? Meet Purdue’s Caitlin Clark

Caitlin Clark understands the amusement over the last few years that she shares a name with a certain superstar athlete — maybe you’ve heard of her — so the Purdue commencement attendees’ murmurs, cheers and laughter when they heard her name called in May were more of a pleasant surprise than a shock. There were good reasons to cheer for the Purdue Caitlin Clark’s achievement. That weekend, she joined both her mother and uncle as Purdue alumni and was commissioned into the U.S. Navy, a lifelong dream.

Media contact: Derek Schultz, dcschultz@purdue.edu

MORE: Recent AP video stories

The AP Newsroom (for AP members) and Purdue News YouTube channel (for all reporters) provide comments from Purdue experts on timely topics. 

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a public research institution demonstrating excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities and with two colleges in the top four in the United States, Purdue discovers and disseminates knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 105,000 students study at Purdue across modalities and locations, including nearly 50,000 in person on the West Lafayette campus. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s main campus has frozen tuition 13 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap — including its first comprehensive urban campus in Indianapolis, the Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business, Purdue Computes and the One Health initiative — at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.