Research Chair Grant for Professor Shabbir H. Gheewala

The growing demand for food, feed and fuels along with the strong promotion of biomass-based energy in Thailand and plans for the future has led to increased concerns on aspects related to land and water resources, food versus fuel issues, energy security and implications related to the use of biomass and the sustainability of agriculture. Due to his long experience and distinguished research record, Prof. Dr. Shabbir H. Gheewala of the Joint Graduate School of Energy and Environment (JGSEE), King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT) has been awarded the prestigious Research Chair Grant 2016 of 20 million Thai Baht from the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) under the Ministry of Science and Technology, Thailand. This grant will be for the project “Network for Research and Innovation for Trade and Production of Sustainable Food and Bioenergy (Research Chair Grant; 2017-2022)” with the following objectives:

• Development of the capacity of 9 researchers from 6 universities for policy research (KMUTT, Kasetsart University, Mahidol University, Prince of Songkla University, Mahasarakham University, University of Phayao)
• Conduct R&D for supporting government policy decision making of food and energy
• Adopt sustainability assessment tools to support industrial production and trade
• Develop research collaboration and network for scientific information exchange among researchers, government and private sectors related to food, fuel and climate change

This project will provide scientific information under international standards for sustainable food and bioenergy production in Thailand which could be used for dissemination, promotion, and international trade negotiations.