UMD Receives Grant For Hybrid Trees

The one million dollar grant will help the program expand their research and conduct more trials.

DULUTH, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Duluth received a huge grant to expand their research on fast–growing hybrid trees.

The University’s natural resources research institute received a one million dollar grant to breed hybrid poplar trees, which would be used for industrial use.

The NRRI has been working for over two decades to develop these hybrid trees, which allows them to reach full size in 10 to 12 years, as opposed to the normal 40 years.

“We’re doing this work because we’re anticipating new kinds of industries based on bio–mass, bio–products, bio–energy. Right now, it’s probably not competitive with the price of oil but we can see the future timeline that this is going to be the case,” NRRI forest scientist Neil Nelson said.

The grant will allow the NRRI to test the trees’ growth success, as well as conduct different trials over the next five years.