Our society is rapidly approaching a global crisis--greenhouse gasses are accumulating in our atmosphere, microplastics are concentrating in fisheries and in our bodies, and nonrenewable resources grow scarcer by the day. One often-cited solution is to concentrate on a circular bioeconomy, where waste is efficiently captured and reused to make energy and new, highly valuable products, such as bioplastics, industrial chemicals, and medicine.
A soaring world population and a growing global middle class drive demand for animal protein and other biological products at a rate that is currently unsustainable, yet the efficiencies of a circular economy based on Arizona’s vast biological resources will help lead us to a solution. Our goal is to help put Arizona producers of everything from lettuce, dates, and cotton to beef and dairy at the center of a new and growing Circular Bioeconomy.
CALES experts in agriculture, natural resource economics, retailing, biosystems engineering, and more are all poised to work together in building a better tomorrow, but we can’t do it alone. To produce employable graduates and find scientific breakthroughs that truly take hold, we need to work hand in hand with practitioners, industry experts, and donors. We need the support, insight, and collaboration of partners like you.