MARCH 12

Annual bioscience event approaches

Conference set for April 2-3 at Minnesota West

 BY RYAN MCGAUGHEY DAILY GLOBE

    WORTHINGTON — For the fifth annual Regional Bioscience Conference, Glenn Thuringer has recruited a significantly player in the realm.

   G. Steven Burrill, who has been involved in the growth and prosperity of the biotechnology industry for more than 40 years, will be the keynote speaker for the conference, which will take place April 2-3 at Minnesota West Community and Technical College , Worthington campus. Burrill will speak at 8 a.m. Friday, and will also appear with Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty on his 9 a.m. radio program live from the confer-ence, in the event the gover-nor accepts the invitation to broadcast live from the event for the second consecutive year.

   Burrill is chief executive officer of Burrill & Company, a San Francisco-based life sciences firm focused exclusively on companies involved in human healthcare and “BioGreenTech,” which includes agricultural biotechnology, industrial biotechnology (biomaterials/bioprocesses) and biofuels.

   “This gentleman very much sets the direction of a lot of life sciences in the U.S. ,” said Thuringer, manager of Wor-thington Regional Economic Development Corp., which coordinates the yearly conference.

   Minnesota Public Radio last month reported that Burrill is part of an effort to convert a development in the small Minnesota community of Pine Island into “a biotech research powerhouse.” Tower Investments, a California real estate company, is working with Burrill in an effort to raise $1 billion for the site, where 1,700 acres of mixed-use residential and business development — centered on a biotech business campus — is being planned.
   “There are a lot of people saying, ‘Wow, how did you get this guy to come to Worthington ?’” Thuringer said. “He’s a pretty big deal.”

   There’s much more to this year’s conference than just Burrill’s appearance, Thuringer stressed. There will be two primary topics at this year’s event: renewable energy and animal health.

   “The conference will always have an educational focus to it,” Thuringer said. “And then we have the side pieces. … We bring projects forward by bringing businesses to the community and building a network-type atmosphere. It helps with the exchange of information.”

   The conference will begin the morning of April 2 with area high school students participating in local laboratories from 8 a.m. until noon. In addition to Worthington students who participate in science club, eleventh-grade students from around the region with interests in science are being invited. In one instance, Thuringer explained, pigs will be dissected at a lab at Prairie Holdings Group, with students learning about animal health applica-tions.

   “We want to give the kids a little bit of what’s going on, and what could go on, in this community,” Thuringer said.

   The conference gets officially under way at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, with renewable energy breakout sessions — topics include wind and solar energy, biofuels and biomass — scheduled to commence at 1 pm. Sessions on animal health production and tech-nology is slated to begin at 2:45 p.m. and 4 p.m., respec-tively. As has been custom-ary, a reception is planned for 7 p.m. at the Historic Dayton House.

   On Friday’s agenda are Burrill’s speech, Pawlenty’s possible radio show broadcast, science club board presentations and feedback on breakout sessions. Another undetermined featured speaker is planned for 11:45 a.m.
   On the Net:
   http://www.wgtn.net

 

 

MARCH 27

Steger scheduled to speak at conference

BY RYAN MCGAUGHEY DAILY GLOBE

    WORTHINGTON — Next week’s Bioscience Conference will have another prestigious speaker as part of its mix.

   Will Steger, an explorer best known for his polar expeditions — and also heralded for promoting understanding and preservation of the Arctic and the Earth — will speak at the annual event, hosted by the Worthington Regional Economic Development Corp., at 11:30 a.m. April 3.

   Steger, who was born in Richfield and now resides in Ely, completed the first confirmed dogsled journey to the North Pole (without re-supply) in 1986, according to Wikipedia, and made a 1,600-mile south-north traverse of Greenland in 1988, the longest-ever unsupported dogsled expedition. Other achievements include a 3,471-mile International Trans-Antarctic Expedition, the first dogsled traverse of Antarctica (1989-90); and the 1995 International Arctic Project, the first and only dogsled traverse of the Arctic Ocean from Russia to Canada ’s Ellesmere Island .

   In 1991, Steger co-founded the Center for Global Environmental Education at Hamline University in St. Paul . Two years later, he founded the World School at the University in St. Thomas, also in St. Paul, and established the Will Steger Foundation — dedicated to creating programs that foster international leadership and cooperation through environmental education and policy — in 2006.

   “He has 40 years of experience watching the Arctic shelves melt, and he has a very compelling story about why renewable energy should progress faster than what it is,” WREDC manager Glenn Thuringer said Thursday.

   Among Steger’s honors are the Lindbergh Foundation’s Lindbergh Award (2006), the Explorers Club Lowell Thomas Award (2007) and the National Geographic Adventure Lifetime Achievement Award (2007). He was also named to Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s Minnesota Climate Change Advisory Group in 2006.

   Steger’s Bioscience Conference appearance will be on the same morning as another prominent speaker. G. Steven Burrill, who has been involved in the growth and prosperity of the biotechnology industry for more than 40 years, will be the keynote speaker for the conference, and will address attendees at 8 a.m.
 
   The conference begins Thursday afternoon and continues through the following day on the Worthington campus of Minnesota West Community and Technical College .

 

MARCH 28

Bioscience Conference to have two tracks

Sessions will focus on renewable energy, animal health

 

BY RYAN MCGAUGHEY DAILY GLOBE
    WORTHINGTON — Renewable energy and animal health will be the two primary topics for the annual Bioscience Conference next week

   The conference, hosted by Worthington Regional Economic Development Corp., will take place Thursday and Friday on the Worthington Campus of Minnesota West Community and Technical College . The events begin with introductions at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, with breakout sessions set to start at 1 p.m.

   “This year’s format will be a little different,” WREDC Manager Glenn Thuringer said. “We’re going to be running a dual track. … At 1 o’ clock there will be a session on renewable energy and wind, and at the same time there will be a session on animal health.”

   There will be three separate sections on animal health over the course of the afternoon. All three will address the impact of antibiotics on livestock production, with five speakers to be featured.

   Dr. Peter Davies, of the University of Minnesota ’s Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, is one speaker.

   “He’s the Leman Chair of Swine Medicine, and he’s got worldwide expertise in swine diseases,” said Randy Simonson, chief operating officer at Worthington ’s Newport Laboratories, who Thuringer credits with taking a leading role in organizing the animal health portion of the conference.
 
   Satish Gupta, a soil, water and climate professor who also teaches at the University of Minnesota , will discuss topics pertaining to antibiotics, Thuringer said.
 
   “He was part of a group that published two different papers on the uptake of antibiotics, meaning that manure from livestock that have been fed food that contains antibiotics, or if they’ve been treated with antibiotics ... when the vegetation is spread on the land, are there significant traces of antibiotics in the land where it could impact organic farming,” Thuringer explained. “I think the studies are still new enough that a real conclusion has not been reached, but in the little bit I’ve visited with Mr. Gupta, his research seems to be very interesting.”

   In the second animal health breakout session, there will be two private industry individuals speaking. Dr. Paul Ruen of the Fairmont Veterinary Clinic, who is also a representative of the American Association of Swine Veterinarians, will be one speaker; another will be Daniel Nelson, manager of technical services in the swine division at Alpharma Animal Health.

   “Alpharma manufactures antibiotics and it will be interesting to see how their practices of the last few years have adjusted to this new antibiotics awareness,” Thuringer said.

   The remaining animal health speaker will be Dennis Johnson of the University of Minnesota-Morris, who manages a dairy herd through the college.

   “They have the dairy herd split into two sectors,” Thuringer detailed. “One side of it, they’re going to make it a 100 percent organic dairy herd, and he’ll be able to talk about the different uses and impacts of antibiotics. We don’t have to exactly understand what an antibiotic is, but when we go to the grocery store and see a label of organic — what does that mean exactly — that gets to be an impact.”

   “There are many issues going on in livestock production with regard to environmental issues, with regard to husbandry, to the use in this particular case of antibiotics,” Simonson said. “In fact, there’s a pending bill by Sen. Ted Kennedy to restrict the use of antibiotics in livestock feed, and there’s a bill pending in California to do likewise.

   “The issues surrounding the use of antibiotics … range from the importance of having them to promote efficient growth and health to concerns over antibiotic resistance in human drugs,” Simonson continued. “You’ve got a spectrum of concerns there. The thing that’s excited me about this conference is that we’re bringing different perspectives to one meeting and asking the presenters to use their data to explain their given situations. The hope that I have coming out of this conference is that we’re going to have these different viewpoints offered at one conference where this can be discussed in hopefully an open and objective manner. This is a chance for this conference to present a contemporary topic and important topic, and do it in a way that keeps the subjective emotion out of it.”

   All three animal health sessions will be moderated by Steve Dudley, a veterinarian at the Vet Medical Center in Worthington . Each speaker is scheduled for one hour and 15 minutes, and all five presenters will be part of a question-and-answer and discussion period that Thuringer believes will be a conference highlight.

   With regard to the renewable energy portion of the conference, there will be sessions on three different sectors — wind energy, biofuels and biomass feed stocks.

   Dan Juhl, who owns Juhl Wind Inc. in Woodstock , and Jim Nichols of Lake Benton , a former legislator with extensive knowledge of wind energy policy, will lead the wind energy sessions. For biofuels, Lowell Rasmussen of the University of Minnesota-Morris and Christina Connelly of Minnesota Department of Agriculture will speak. Also part of that session will be Bill Lee from Chippewa Valley Ethanol plant in Benson.
 
   Linda Meschke of Rural Advantage, Fairmont , will be moderating the panel on biomass feed stocks. She will be joined by Alan Doering from the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute in Waseca — who Thuringer said focuses on plant residue — and Vance Owens, who works in the plant science department at South Dakota State University .

   Thuringer credited Dennis Hample of Minnesota West’s Jackson campus for coordinating the renewable energy track of the conference.
 
   “The format that these panels will take is the moderator will introduce the panelists, and the panelists will make short presentations about their backgrounds and what they do,” Thuringer said. “The majority of the time will be spent interacting with attendees at the session. In order to spur the discussions, we are assigning each session within renewable energy two questions that we want them to address.”

   Thuringer added that during Thursday’s breakout sessions, a person from BioBusiness Alliance of Minnesota will observe; the next day, Alliance representatives will report back to the full conference on what they heard.

   For more information on the conference or to register, go to  http://www.wgtn.net/Wredc/ index or call 372-5515.

 

MARCH 31

Steger to show global warming’s evidence

Explorer will show expedition photos at WREDC’s Bioscience Conference

 BY RYAN MCGAUGHEY DAILY GLOBE
    WORTHINGTON — Will Steger has seen a lot in areas that have almost gone entirely unseen.

   Steger, known for polar explorations and his advocacy for preserving the Arctic region as well as the Earth, will speak at 11:30 a.m. Friday at the Bioscience Conference at Minnesota West Community and Technical College , Worthington campus.

   “I’ve had a first-hand view of what’s been happening in polar areas for the last 15 years,” said Steger in a phone conversation Monday. “I’m going to be sharing my eyewitness account of global warming.”

   While Steger acknowledged that “probably a third of the population” doesn’t believe global warming is occurring, he said there’s much to talk about — now so more than ever. Instead of making a planned, repeat trip to Greenland , he is staying behind to concentrate on advocacy work. His Will Steger Foundation (WSF) is dedicated to creating programs that foster international leadership and cooperation through environmental education and policy.

   “I decided to stay in Minnesota and work on solutions, and work toward boosting the green economy,” he said. “I thought that was the best way to use my time right now.”

   Steger, a Minnesota native, has completed such journeys as a 1,600-mile south-north trek across Greenland, a 3,471-mile International Trans-Antarctic Expedition, a dogsled traverse on Antarctica, and a dogsled traverse of the Arctic Ocean from Russia to Canada ’s Ellesmere Island .
   “What’s been different about these presentations … usually there’s a lot of statistics, but these are real pictures that show how this (global warming) is accelerating very quickly,” Steger said. “Fifteen years ago or more, scientists predicted changes would happen in these regions. Those changes have been going on, for the most part, unseen … but I’ve seen them.”

   Steger noted that he appeared at a Bioenergy Days event in Mankato last September, which attracted a “big turnout.” He said he does public speaking on global warming to audiences ranging from high-schoolers to public policy makers.

   Steger received word through a friend who does his booking that the Worthington Regional Economic Development Corp. (WREDC) was looking for another speaker for the second day of its Bioscience Conference. G. Steven Burrill, who has been involved in the biotechnology industry for more than 40 years, will be the keynote speaker for the conference, and address attendees at 8 a.m. Friday.
 
   “At the conference, I’ll talk about economic opportunities, solutions and so forth,” Steger said. “This helps really nail home why we should take this seriously. I think the story is really important.”
   On the Net:
   www.globalwarming101.com
   http://www.wgtn.net/Wredc/i ndex.htm

 

 

APRIL 2

Bioscience Conference under way Uses of animal antibiotics addressed by speakers

BY JULIE BUNTJER DAILY GLOBE
    WORTHINGTON — Scrutiny over antibiotic use in the livestock industry continues to make headlines across the United States and around the world, making it a timely topic at the 2009 Bioscience Conference Thursday afternoon in Worthington .

   The animal health track at the conference gave visitors five perspectives on the use of antibiotics, from the impact it has on animals and humans, to food safety and the environment.

   Dr. Steven Dudley, of the Veterinary Medical Center and Prairie Holdings in Worthington , said there is a lot of pending legislation, from restriction of antibiotics to animal welfare issues to environmental concerns.
 
   “My bias as a veterinarian (is) we know antibiotics are an important tool for modern veterinary medicine,”said Dudley . “Many disease problems that I encounter on a daily basis require the use of antibiotics.”

   At the same time, Dudley said antibiotic resistance is a reality.

   A couple of the presenters spoke of the time and money it takes to get an antibiotic approved for use in the livestock industry. Often, a decade or more of research is needed and tens of millions of dollars are spent before an antibiotic ends up on the market.

Antibiotics and food safety
   “Everyone would agree that food availability and safety within the United States and the world is a critical issue for all consumers,” said Dudley .

   “Antibiotic usage, as well, is an important part of human and livestock animal health,” he said.

   Maintaining a safe food supply can be debated on several different fronts, said Dudley , from food shortages to the role of meat producing animals.

   “There will be increased population growth,” Dudley said, adding that antibiotic usage is important to produce healthy food in the U.S. But as more and more consumers expect antibiotic-free food, animal agriculture will need to address the issue.

   The potential for antibiotic restrictions could be a detriment to animal agriculture.

   “Recently, we’re coming off extremely poor profitability,” Dudley said. “Our producers have been losing a lot of money for a lot of months.”

   Dr. Paul Ruen, with the Fairmont Veterinary Clinic, said about 75 percent of a producer’s cost in swine production is feed. With the use of subtherapeutic medications, farmers can realize a 2 percent to 5 percent improvement in average daily gain. By restricting antibiotic use, he said the efficiencies would be lost and it would result in making food more expensive.

Global watch
   Dr. Peter Davies, with the University of Minnesota ’s Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, said people have debated the use of antibiotics for the past 50 years. Yet, food safety — particularly in the swine industry — is “in far better shape” than it once was.

   “The use of antimicrobials is a whole lot better today than it was in the past, but consumer perceptions of antimicrobials are a whole lot worse,” said Davies.

   Livestock producers use antimicrobials for a variety of reasons. Antibiotics are used in disease treatment, control and prevention, while subtherapeutic uses improve production or metabolic efficiency. The U.S. and Canada are still permitted to use antimicrobials to boost production and efficiency, while it is not allowed in the European Union, Japan , Australia and New Zealand , Davies said.

   The use of antibiotics is prohibited in Denmark ’s animal industry, and Davies said animal health has declined and production efficiency has dropped as a result.

   Closer to home, Ruen said he works with a swine producer in northern Iowa who has raised antibiotic-free pigs in a confinement barn setting since 2007. The operation consists of about 5,500 sows, with 2,500 head of pigs weaned weekly, on average.

   Ruen said the operation experiences an average 8 percent nursery pig death loss, a 7 percent finisher pig death loss and 15 percent are considered cull value pigs. That leaves about 70 percent of the pigs sold at full value on the antibiotic-free market.

   “That’s not real good,” said Ruen, adding that most swine operators expect to see 90 percent of their animals sold at full value. “From an animal welfare standpoint, that’s a real loss.”
Following the food chain

   Satish Gupta, professor of soil, water and climate at the U of M, has spent considerable time researching the impact antibiotic use in livestock has on the environment.

   Five years ago, approximately 35 million pounds of antibiotics were produced annually — 13 percent used for humans and 84 percent used in animal agriculture, Gupta said.

   The use of antibiotics in U.S. animal agriculture has led to concerns about the level of antibiotic residue in manure and the potential for that residue to get into the soil and water supply.

   Gupta conducted research at the Southwest Research and Outreach Center in Lamberton, as well as research sites in Staples and Lancaster , Wis. , testing soils that had received applications of swine manure, turkey manure and urea.

   “There is some potential for transport of antibiotics both through leaching and through runoff from manure-applied soils,” said Gupta, adding that the majority of the antibiotics dissolved in the soil.

   Increased concentration of soil-applied manure, however, shows an increased uptake of antibiotics by the plants. Gupta said while antibiotic levels in plants appears minimal, there are some implications on organic vegetable growers who use manure as fertilizer.

   In addition to the concerns of antibiotic levels in plants, Gupta said producers will need to be mindful of applying manure on erodible soils.
   “If you have erosion of the soil, you’re going to want to control it because the soil can be carrying antibiotics,” he said.

   In addition to the animal health presentation Thursday afternoon, the Bioscience Conference also included a series of meetings on wind energy, biofuels and biomass feed stocks.

   Today’s schedule includes keynote speaker Steven Burrill, CEO of Burrill & Co., at 8 a.m., followed by a presentation on talent development for ag-based biosciences. The Worthington Middle School Science Club will also give presentations beginning at 10 a.m.

 

 

APRIL 4

Speakers draw crowd

Burrill sees major innovation in next 10 years

 

BY RYAN MCGAUGHEY DAILY GLOBE
    WORTHINGTON — G. Steven Burrill had an early message for the middle school students listening to him speaking Friday at the Bioscience Conference.

   Recalling an opportunity he had at one time to meet all the living Nobel Laureates, Burrill asked many of them how and when they became interested in the sciences.

   “What I learned was that most of them were turned on at age 12, age 11 … it was some teacher, or somebody they met along the way,” Burrill said.

   Burrill, a California-based venture capitalist whose company has nearly $1 billion under management, has been involved in the biosciences for 40 years — and was introduced Friday morning as “one of the original architects of the industry.” Predicting a promising future for today’s 11- and 12-year-olds, he used a bulk of his nearly 80-minute presentation to describe what he calls a “sea change” in the biosciences.

   “ Worthington , and this part of the world, is not as isolated as you might think when it comes to value opportunity,” Burrill said. “This is a sea change that’s historic in the world … it will be more pervasive than the Depression was. … But we will come out of this a stronger country and a stronger industry.”
Moving forward
despite the times

   Burrill acknowledged “the economy is pretty messy, and it’s only going to get messier,” adding that “to some extent, capitalism has failed, if only temporarily.” He sees the economic downturn as lasting three to five years.

   “The important thing to take from my speech is not where we are now, but where we’re going to be,” he said.

   Government organizations around the world, whether they have to do with patents or regulations, are barriers to the market, Burrill added, but the biggest spark for new businesses and innovation comes through capital.

   “You don’t get there on your hopes and dreams; you get there because capital gets you there,” he said. “We’ve had 30 to 40 years of relatively easy access to relatively cheap capital, but that game is over and that’s changing dramatically. … Capital will be much more challenging to get, and the cost of that capital will be higher.

   “If you ask me whether it’s capital that drives entrepreneurship or the other way around, and if you told me there were hundreds and hundreds of businesses in Worthington that had great ideas, all the capital would be here,” Burrill continued. “Capital follows ideas.”

   Burrill also discussed the impact of the election of Barack Obama as president, noting it has resulted in “a more activist Congress” that will have numerous impacts. One effect he noted was that power would be added to Medicare to negotiate what it pays for drugs, making it more difficult for the biotech industry. Congress’ erasure of the capital gains tax differential, with tax rates going up for the “rich,” will be bad for capital raising and thus make capital more expensive. Stricter regulatory insight is another negative, he said.

   Among the positives Burrill described were the removal of restrictions on stem cell research (“but don’t expect the check to be in the mail tomorrow,” he warned), a multi-billion dollar increase in funding for healthcare information technology and an increased emphasis on green technology and biofuels.

   “We will see a mixed bag coming out of Washington ,” Burrill said.
Looking ahead to 2020

   In examining the current marketplace, Burrill said technologies, an aging population, governments and policy makers, and economic imperatives are economic drivers. He also predicted a radical shift in how health care is delivered as a result of some of those conditions.

   “If you go up to 2020, just 10 years from now, and think what the health care world would look like … it will look very different than today. … I would argue that the sickness care system as we know it hasn’t changed for 2,000 years. Two thousand years ago, we waited for you to get sick and then you went to some form of a healer, they did something and you either lived or died. … Two thousand years later, we live the same way. We’ve done nothing to fundamentally change the health system, but what we’re going to do in the next 10 years is going to change everything.”

   Burrill laid out a vision for a “digital, direct system” that would allow a person to walk into a Wal-Mart or other “consumer distribution center,” prick their finger or give a saliva sample, and subsequently get a card of digitized information that would assist in a diagnosis. That same person could leave wearing a shirt allowing doctors or other healthcare professionals to monitor their recovery.

   “I’m not a crazy visionary who’s spent too much time on airplanes, but all the technology to do that exists today,” he said.

   Technology such as the ability to identify genetic markers or links for most diseases will allow babies born in 2020 to be monitored before birth, with information to be put on a chip, he predicted.

   “Many people say, ‘Steven, that will never happen, but places like the Netherlands … they are way ahead of us. We actually may be a laggard in much of this technology,” Burrill said.
 
   In shifting today’s healthcare system into what he deemed a wellness care system, the biopharmaceutical industry will be re-invented, he added. Countries such as China , India and Brazil will likely be leading the way, but places such as Worthington shouldn’t see themselves as isolated in any way.

   “We’re global from day one. … It used to be that globality happened when you got to a certain scale, but that’s not the case any longer,” he said.

   While today’s top drugs may be Lipitor or Viagra, tomorrow’s will be geared toward promoting memory and easing diabetes and obesity.

   “The message is don’t look at markets of today, look at where markets are going to be five to 10 years from now,” Burrill said.
All about teamwork

   Government initiatives in biotechnology are going on today across the world, and Burrill believes it’s important to communicate the promises of that technology as much as possible. Animal health has been “an enormous beneficiary” of new technology, he said, adding that “we have extraordinary opportunities in agriculture to use technology to change the world. Biomass conversion will be an enormous opportunity where we can be a world leader.”

   A big key to prosperity, Burrill concluded, is working together.

   “The opportunity is there, as it is for everyone else, to use partnerships and globality ... to link yourself in an effective way, and you succeed,” he said.

 

APRIL 4

Steger recounts treks, advocates action

BY LAURA GREVAS DAILY GLOBE
    WORTHINGTON — Explorer Will Steger shared stories of his Antarctic adventures Friday at the Bioscience Conference, but he also brought a more serious plea for action against global warming.

   “In third grade, my first book was ‘The Adventures of Huck Finn,’ and that pretty much set my course,” the Twin Cities native famous for his polar explorations told the crowd at Minnesota West Community and Technical College .

   Steger shared his background with the group of conference attendees and Worthington Middle School Science Club students.

   As a teenager, he became fascinated with exploring nature, taking a river trip from Minneapolis to New Orleans with his older brother.

   “We got arrested in every town in the South; they thought we stole the boat,” he remembered with a laugh. He began climbing at 16 and at 19 was offered the chance to tag along on a professional expedition.

   Steger earned his bachelor’s degree in geology and master’s in education at the University of St. Thomas , teaching junior high school science classes for a few years before later deciding to move into the wilderness.

   In 1970, he built a log cabin on property he had purchased in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and established a wilderness school there for income. That’s when he came face to face with the sled dogs he would come to rely upon.

   “It was dogs that really changed my life. … Even though I moved to the wilderness to have a simpler life, it was sort of counterproductive in a way to have a dog team to feed every day for 21 years,” he said. “But it was a good tradeoff because I could make a living and support myself, and within four, five, six years it enabled me to build up a dog team to go to the arctic. This was my avenue that led me to the North.”

   Steger, who is perhaps best known for leading the first confirmed dogsled journey to the North Pole without resupply in 1986, recalled the dangers of his many treks. Temperatures of minus 100 degrees wind chill are standard, he said, and there is often a danger of falling into crevices covered by drifting snow called ice bridges. He said the 30-minute meal break taken by explorers each day is often the most uncomfortable, as they usually stay warm by moving constantly, skiing alongside the sled instead of riding on it.
 
   He addressed global warming, saying that while it has not affected the interior of Antarctica yet, the edges of both that continent and Greenland are in danger.

   “These ice shelves have been around … about the last 7,000 years. So the fact that they just broke up here in the last six years is quite remarkable,” he said. Thawing levels in Greenland have been increasing since about 1992, and Steger showed video of ice chunks the size of multi story buildings breaking off into the ocean. “It’s so violent in some cases they’re recorded on the (Richter) scale,” he said.
“What we should be concerned with here is the sea level rise. The goal here is to cut the carbon emissions down while at the same time growing our economy” Steger said, emphasizing the need for energy independence.

   Scientific opinion on global warming — the increase in the average temperature of the Earth’s near-surface air and the oceans — has shifted in the last three years, Steger said, and those who argue against it are now in the minority. And despite what he called billiondollar campaigns of misinformation on the subject, he’s still hopeful for a solution.
   Scientific theories take awhile to develop, after all.

   “The science is in 92 percent that we’re radically changing the planet. And (the theory of) gravity isn’t even 100 percent yet,” he said.

 

 

Fourth bioscience conference nearing

Ryan McGaughey Worthington Daily Globe
Published Saturday, March 08, 2008

WORTHINGTON — Numerous bioscience professionals from across the country will gather in Worthington later this month.

The fourth annual bioscience conference, coordinated by the Worthington Regional Economic Development Corp. (WREDC), will take place March 27-28 at Minnesota West Community and Technical College. At a time of soaring gas and oil prices and an increasing emphasis on “green energy,” this year’s conference will focus upon renewable energy.

“We’re incorporating more renewable energy than we ever have,” WREDC Manager Glenn Thuringer said. “It aligns itself with the WIRED (Workforce Innovations in Regional Economic Development) grant that was awarded to 36 (Minnesota) counties.”

Thirty-six contiguous Minnesota counties stand to benefit from a $5 million training grant announced in June 2007 by U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao. The grant, which will be administered over three years, was awarded to Minnesota’s Ag Innovation Triangle, which encompasses counties in the southwest, west central and south central parts of the state.

The WIRED grant, won by 12 other U.S. regions, is designed to coordinate the efforts of workforce development and economic development agencies to ensure an ample supply of skilled workers. Southwest Minnesota counties that are part of the Ag Innovation Triangle include Cottonwood, Jackson, Murray, Nobles, Pipestone and Rock.

Dick Hemmingsen, director of renewable energy, University of Minnesota, believes alternative energy sources are integral to a strong state economy,

“I first got hooked up with the bioscience conference when I attended one of the first ones they did three or four years ago,” Hemmingsen said. “I knew of Glenn and the efforts in Worthington at that point.

“The discussion about renewable energy being one of the themes struck me as important because I think it is one of the defining issues of our time,” he added. “The field of renewables is immense and rather than try to cover the entire renewable energy waterfront, I think over the course of a few discussions we decided to narrow this down to how are we going to grow biomass materials, how we are to convert them and how we utilize them. If we’re going to convert biomass to what are sometimes referred to as second- and third-generation biofuels, we want to make sure there’s a way to utilize these products.”

Hemmingsen is slated to serve as moderator for the conference’s first session, “Renewables: Growing It, Converting It, Utilizing It.” Five other panelists have been tapped to participate in the session.

Hemmingsen said he and Minnesota West agriculture instructor Rolf Mahlberg — “who, parenthetically, I knew from teaching vo-ag in Pipestone several years ago” — worked to brainstorm names of session speakers.

“Rolf and Glenn continued to kick these names around and continued to add to this array of panelists that are going to be on that program,” Hemmingsen said.

Following Thursday afternoon’s opening session, a session titled “Commercialization and Business Incubator/Accelerators” will follow. One of the panelists in that portion of the conference will be Mark Crowell, associate vice chancellor for economic development and technology transfer at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

“I just heard him speak at a conference not long ago,” Thuringer said of Crowell. “I think he’s absolutely outstanding. … We’re glad to have him coming here.”

Additional sessions during the two-day conference include “New Technology,” “Education — Industry Workforce Development” and “Bioscience: Research at Work.”

The public is invited to attend the conference. Registrations are requested by going to www.wgtn.net or www.dglobe.com, or by calling the Worthington Area Chamber of Commerce at 372-2219 or WREDC at 372-5515.

Additionally, a gathering for conference participants will again take place this year at the Historic Dayton House. The social is planned for the evening of March 27.

“That’s really liked, especially by out-of-town people,” Thuringer said of the social. “It’s amazing how many of the Twin Cities people come down and say how great it is to get connected here after trying to get together for weeks in the Cities.”

Thuringer added that he is enthusiastic about having another successful gathering of bioscience professionals converge in Worthington.

“I’m really impressed with the support, not just locally but across the state,” he said. “Having the university’s input and local input with Minnesota West is a ton of help in organizing an event like this.”

 

 

Pawlenty keynote speaker at conference

Ryan McGaughey Worthington Daily Globe
Published Wednesday, March 19, 2008

WORTHINGTON — Gov. Tim Pawlenty will be the keynote speaker at next week’s Bioscience Conference, and he will also host his weekly Friday morning radio show live from the conference stage.

Glenn Thuringer, manager of Worthington Regional Economic Development Corp., said Tuesday that Pawlenty will address Bioscience Conference attendees at 8:30 a.m. March 28, the second day of the two-day event at Minnesota West Community and Technical College. Immediately following his remarks, he’ll do his hour-long radio program.

This will be Pawlenty’s first visit to Worthington’s annual Bioscience Conference, which will take place for the fourth time.

“I think it gives the conference credibility and gives the presenters we already have lined up an even bigger platform from which to speak,” Thuringer said. “I think this gives us recognition in this corner of the state for our bioscience efforts, and shows that our efforts aren’t going unnoticed.”

Additionally, a nationally syndicated program will also be broadcast live from the Bioscience Conference that same day. “AgriTalk,” which airs locally on KWOA-AM, will host its program — starting at approximately 10 a.m. after the governor’s radio show — from the lobby of the Minnesota West administration building. People who wish to watch the live radio broadcast may do so free of charge.

“The entire show is going to be dedicated to Worthington,” Thuringer said. “We’ve lined up a bunch of people to speak … like the mayor (Alan Oberloh) and local business leaders.”

Thuringer credited rural Worthington’s Matt Widboom, a former farm broadcaster, for making the initial contact with “AgriTalk.”

Also scheduled for Friday at the Bioscience Conference is a session, “Bioscience: Research at Work,” from 10:15 to 11:45 a.m. Panelists include Ben Perryman, vice president of research at Sanford Health in Sioux Falls, S.D., Eric Wieben, director of the Mayo Clinic Genomics Research Center, and Gareth Davies, scientific director for Avera Institute for Human Behavioral Genetics.

“We’re wrapping up the conference with three powerhouse speakers from Sanford, Mayo and Avera,” Thuringer said. “We’re excited about that.”

The conference begins at 12:30 p.m. March 27, and three different panel sessions are scheduled for that day. The first session, “Renewables: Growing It, Converting It, Utilizing It,” will be from 1:15 to 3:15 p.m.

“One of the panelists, Vance Owens, will be talking about switchgrass … and another, Mark Rasmussen, will be talking about using algae to make ethanol and biodiesel,” Thuringer said. “(Rasmussen’s) is going to be one of the most interesting talks of the conference.”

Owens is in the Plant Science Department at South Dakota State University, while Rasmussen is a senior research scientist with SarTec Corp. in Anoka.

A complete schedule of events for the Bioscience Conference is available at wgtn.net, where Thuringer asks people planning to attend the conference to register.

 

 

Editorial: Conference lineup looks strong

Daily Globe, Worthington Daily Globe
Published Thursday, March 20, 2008

Things are looking up for the fourth annual Bioscience Conference, which begins a week from today at Minnesota West Community and Technical College, Worthington campus.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty will be the keynote speaker for the event, which kicks off in the early afternoon of March 27 and continues through the morning of the 28th. Pawlenty, of course, has visited Worthington on multiple occasions during his tenure as governor, but his first-time visit to the Bioscience Conference shows us that he recognizes Worthington’s efforts in the field.

Perhaps as noteworthy as Pawlenty’s visit will be the planned visit by folks from the nationally syndicated radio program “AgriTalk.” The show, which airs daily, will broadcast live on the morning of the 28th from the Bioscience Conference, with Worthington Mayor Alan Oberloh and other local leaders to be interviewed. It’s a great opportunity to have Worthington portrayed in a positive light to thousands of listeners from all around.

With a focus this year on renewable energy, this year’s Bioscience Conference promises to be both intriguing and accessible to a wide audience. We congratulate the Worthington Regional Economic Development Corp. for their work in coordinating what should be another successful event.

 

 

Business incubator panel new to conference

Julie Buntjer Worthington Daily Globe
Published Tuesday, March 25, 2008

WORTHINGTON — The fourth annual Bioscience Conference is just days away in Worthington, and speakers for the two-day event are putting the final touches on their presentations.

The Thursday-Friday conference promises some of the most intriguing people and informative subjects in the bioscience arena — and the premise that Worthington and the tri-state region can position itself for future growth and development in the industry.

The conference will take place in the Fine Arts building on the Minnesota West Community and Technical College campus in Worthington. The event kicks off at 12:30 p.m. Thursday with a welcome by Worthington Mayor Alan Oberloh, followed by featured panels on renewables and commercialization and business incubator/accelerators.

Tamara Goetz, appointed science advisor for the State of Utah, is one of three panelists to speak during the commercialization and business incubator/accelerator panel.

Worthington Regional Economic Development Corp. manager Glenn Thuringer, who coordinates the annual conference, said this is the first time a panel has been offered on the particular topic.

A business incubator is a building that provides new companies with a place to get started — a “launching pad” of sorts to help them get off the ground and grow so that they can eventually expand into a larger area.

Thuringer explained that a building used as a business incubator typically offers a company a reduced rental rate to help with finances until they become more established.

“(The accelerator) provides more experience to help get it going,” he added.

During the Thursday afternoon panel, Goetz will talk about her work with InnovaBio, a student-driven, non-profit contract research company that provides training to high school and college students. The program ultimately leads students to internships within a life science company in Utah.

The project includes training in two specific areas — lab technology and bio-manufacturing training technology — and is funded with a U.S. Department of Labor Workforce Innovation for Regional Economic Development (WIRED) grant.

“We have 15,000 square feet to do a pilot incubator,” Goetz said, adding that the building features several small private labs, a larger lab and a training facility.

“(In the facility), high school and biotech students are doing research under supervision with researchers,” she said.

Goetz will share with conference attendees the concept behind the model and how it could be a tool for development locally.

With a spec building standing empty in Worthington’s designated bioscience park, Thuringer hopes to lure companies needing an incubator-type facility to get started.

“We would like to have a training and testing center of our own,” he said, adding that the hope is the spec building could host three different incubators. “We’ve been talking about which model do we go with — the incubator or acceleration.”

There is also the commercialization avenue, which would host start-up businesses that take research and turn it into products for commercial sale. The feasibility of commercialization in a largely rural area without a predominant university nearby will also be addressed.

“I think there’s a mindset out there that to be successful with commercialization and incubation, you need to be near a major university,” Thuringer said.

Without the support of sponsors, Thuringer said it would be impossible to bring speakers such as Goetz to Worthington. There are more than 25 corporate sponsors helping to finance this year’s conference.

“We’re just glad the sponsors see this as a value,” he said.

Sponsorships have come from not just the Worthington area, but from throughout the region — something Thuringer said is important to note.

“We know we cannot succeed by just being a single entity,” Thuringer said. “It’s better to market the region. We hope northwest Iowa and southeast South Dakota see that as well.”

 

 

Students able to explore careers at conference

Ryan McGaughey Worthington Daily Globe
Published Thursday, March 27, 2008

WORTHINGTON — The fourth annual Bioscience Conference begins today, and organizers are hoping the proceedings make favorable impressions on those considering a career in the industry.

Glenn Thuringer, manager of Worthington Regional Economic Development Corp. — which is coordinating the two-day event — said the conference is a great way for college students to learn about the industry and potentially meet leaders in the field.

“There’s going to be upwards of 70 college students attending, mostly from Minnesota West, but from a couple of different campuses,” Thuringer said.

The conference, which will take place in the Minnesota West Community and Technical College Fine Arts Theater, begins at 12:30 p.m. today with a welcome from Worthington Mayor Alan Oberloh. Ron Wood, president of Minnesota West, will give a brief explanation of the WIRED (Workforce Innovations in Regional Economic Development) grant awarded last year to 36 Minnesota counties.

A panel discussion titled “Renewables: Growing It, Converting It, Utilizing It” will take place from 12:45 to 3 p.m. Ryan Mahlberg, a biotechnology instructor at Minnesota West’s Worthington campus, hopes his students will find the session informative.

“I’ve steered them toward a couple (of discussions),” Mahlberg said Wednesday afternoon. “I’d like them to go to the renewable one — this is kind of an irregular timing for them to go to class, so I’ve given them some options. There’s a session I’ve encouraged them to go to from 11:30 a.m. to 12:25 p.m. Friday (“Bioscience: Research at Work”), as well as Gov. (Tim) Pawlenty on Friday morning.

Pawlenty, the conference’s keynote speaker, will address attendees at 8:30 a.m. Friday, and then follow immediately by hosting his weekly hour-long radio show live from Minnesota West. After Pawlenty’s program, the nationally syndicated radio program, “AgriTalk,” will air live from the Bioscience Conference, with several Worthington individuals slated to be interviewed.

Mahlberg said he has approximately 12 students who plan to attend the conference. His father, Rolf Mahlberg — an ag instructor at the college — as well as Minnesota West chemistry instructor Steven Schultz will also have students there, he added.

“I’m hoping they are open to some of the areas of the conference we don’t necessarily talk about on a day-to-day basis that they can get excited about,” Mahlberg said.

Malhberg also looks forward to attending the event on a personal level.

“It’s nice to make connections with professionals in this industry that I wouldn’t make otherwise, which may lead to future collaborations,” he said. “And just seeing that there’s support within this industry at an educational level, industrial level and professional level … that’s great for the students.”

Today’s other sessions are “Commercialization & Business Incubator/Accelerators (3:30 to 4:30 p.m.) and “New Technology” (4:30 to 5 p.m. and 5:45 to 6:15 p.m.) A presentation from Mahri Monson, a research assistant for the Center of Science, Technology and Public Institute with the University of Minnesota’s Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, will be from 6:15 to 6:30 p.m.

A social reception sponsored by the Daily Globe will take place from 7 to 10 p.m. today at the Historic Dayton House. Friday’s itinerary includes Pawlenty’s address, the “AgriTalk” program and two more sessions, including one titled, “Education — Industry Workforce Development.”

 

 

Researcher takes Bioscience Conference inside WHS

Ryan McGaughey Worthington Daily Globe
Published Friday, March 28, 2008

WORTHINGTON — While the fourth annual Bioscience Conference was transpiring at Minnesota West Community and Technical College, an outreach program of sorts was taking place at Worthington High School.

Mahri Monson, a research assistant with the Center for Science, Technology and Public Policy — part of the University of Minnesota’s Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs — spoke to high school students Thursday afternoon about how math and science education can play an important role in their futures. Monson’s appearance in the school was sponsored by Worthington Regional Economic Development Corp., which coordinated the conference.

“Glenn Thuringer (WREDC manager) approached me after I was presenting with the BioBusiness Alliance of Minnesota in front of a House committee (in St. Paul),” Monson explained. “He thought it would be interesting for me to come and talk some to students around this Bioscience Conference, and I said I would be honored to do so.”

Mahri Monson of the University of Minnesota talks about potential career choices with Kevin Rounoubon (left) and Freddy Barajas in John Goedtel’s freshman careers class Thursday afternoon at Worthington High School. (Ryan McGaughey/Daily Globe)

Monson worked with Thuringer and Jodi Landgaard of Prairie Holdings Group to arrange her Thursday classroom discussions at WHS. Landgaard worked with WHS principal Scott Backer to arrange how Monson’s presentation would fit best; she also appeared with Monson to discuss job shadowing and internship possibilities within the Worthington community.

On Thursday afternoon, Monson spoke before ninth-graders in John Goedtel’s careers class, explaining at one point on how math and science can pertain to such contrasting careers as cosmetology and nuclear medicine.

“I guess I was trying to make whatever connections I could to math and science and engineering and technology,” Monson said. “I know one of the concerns we have on a national level is that our students aren’t making as much progress in those arenas as those in other countries. I’d like to see people pursue those areas … and keep all kinds of opportunities open to them.”

Monson added that Backer felt her appearance was also important to students — and the school — from another standpoint.

“It shows them that what they’re working on today is relevant, and it has meaning to their future,” she said.

On Thursday evening at the Bioscience Conference, Monson also gave a presentation on her work with BioBusiness Alliance, covering her work in areas such as renewable energy, biomaterials, animal health, medical devices and others.

“Glenn had wanted me to address the idea of convergence, or new opportunities created by developing synergies between historically distinct disciplines,” Monson said. “The tool that BioBusiness Alliance has used is System Dynamics Modeling. … I see this tool as a way to look at complex problems and finding points of greatest leverage for change in whatever system you’re working. It just kind of gives us a tool to think in more of a convergence-minded way, or to look at things from an integrative perspective.”

 

 

Researchers on the cutting edge

Julie Buntjer Worthington Daily Globe
Published Friday, March 28, 2008

WORTHINGTON — From growing algae and switchgrass to converting livestock manure and food processing waste into compost, researchers are doing what they can to improve America’s energy independence.

That was the message during a two-hour session on renewables Thursday afternoon at the fourth annual Bioscience Conference in Worthington. The program featured five speakers and covered the three main areas of alternative crops: growing it, converting it and utilizing it.

Minnesota is often considered a leader in renewable resources, and with the information panelists presented Wednesday, it appears the state will remain a strong contender for years to come.

Mark Rasmussen speaks Thursday during his power point presentation at the Bioscience Conference in the Fine Arts Building of Minnesota West Community and Technical College, Worthington campus. (Brian Korthals/Daily Globe)

The first state to pass an ethanol mandate requiring all gasoline contain a 10 percent ethanol blend — and the first state to pass a biodiesel mandate at 2 percent — Minnesota and its farmers realize they can’t produce enough corn and soybeans to meet the nation’s thirst for fuel. It needs to find other crops, other sources of biomass, to feed processing facilities that make biofuel.

Vance Owens, a plant scientist at South Dakota State University, believes that switchgrass, in combination with other grasses such as Big Bluestem and Indiangrass, can supply a significant amount of biomass for the production of ethanol. He is working with 30 test plots located throughout the U.S. dedicated to perennial crop production.

“It’s an exciting time to be a forage crop researcher,” Owens said.

Among the advantages of growing perennials for biomass are reduced needs for fuels, pesticide and fertilizer; it can be grown on land unsuitable for row crops; it benefits carbon sequestration, promotes soil and water conservation and provides increased wildlife habitat. Issues yet to be resolved, Owens said, are harvesting and processing the grasses.

In field trials, Owens said switchgrass is “relatively easy” to establish, is long-lived and resistant to lodging. While biomass levels in switchgrass peak in July and August, harvesting at that time of the year has proved detrimental to the perennial aspect.

“If we harvest then, we’re going to kill it,” he said. “If we wait until fall or the next spring (to harvest), I think it could go on forever.”

A late-summer harvest doesn’t give the grass time to generate enough regrowth to be able to over-winter in the northern climate, he added.

“Harvest timing is critical; it has to be tweaked for each part of the country,” Owens said.

While research continues on the feasibility of growing perennial grasses like switchgrass, Big Bluestem and Indiangrass, Owens is impressed with the biomass levels produced from the crop.

“From a processing point, they’re going to be OK to be in a mixture,” he said.

If people were surprised when President George W. Bush’s 2006 State of the Union speech mentioned switchgrass as a source for biofuel, they would certainly turn heads at the thought algae could be used as a renewable resource.

Mark Rasmussen, senior research scientist with SarTec Corp. of Anoka, is working on a project to capture carbon dioxide through the cultivation of algae.

“We tend to think of algae in negative ways — it produces toxins dangerous to wildlife and aquatic life, but if we can harvest it, it can have (some benefit),” Rasmussen said. The concept is to use photosynthetic organisms to turn algae into a resource. Lest one think the idea is far-fetched, Rasmussen said there is already some commercial cultivation of algae being done around the world by nutraceutical companies.

“I don’t want to oversell it,” he said of the idea. “There’s a lot of overselling going on. The scale-up is a real challenge.”

Algae harvest at this time is being done on open ponds or tanks; however, more costly closed bioreactor systems appear to be a better option because they provide a controlled environment with less potential for evaporation or contamination.

A North Dakota study funded by the DOE in 2002 concluded that harvested algae is a competitive feedstock, while the oil could be used for biofuel.

Converting renewables

Marc von Keitz, program director for biotechnology services at the University of Minnesota, said there are three main reasons to continue the push toward renewable resources: We need more alternatives to imported oil, we need to find new ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and we need to support rural development.

“I heard last year was the best year for farmers in 35 years, and I think that’s largely due to biofuels,” von Keitz told the crowd of Bioscience Conference attendees.

Corn and soybean production keeps ethanol and biodiesel plants going in the region, but there isn’t enough supply to meet the growing demands not only for fuel, but also for food.

“If all starch, sugar, fat and natural oils were used to make liquid biofuels, it would meet just 30 percent of transportation fuel needs,” von Keitz said. By 2010, it is estimated ethanol would meet 4 percent of the global gasoline demand, while biodiesel would only fill 1.1 percent of the diesel fuel needs.

“We have to look at how much fuel we can produce from one acre of land,” he said, adding that cellulosic ethanol is the way to go. “There are many different processes under development to make a variety of fuels.”

Utilizing resources

Within an hour’s drive of Worthington, Bison Renewable Energy is constructing a Biogas Regional Anaerobic Digester, or BRAD, to take one of northwest Iowa’s greatest resources — manure — and turn it into pipeline-quality natural gas, 503A pathogen-free compost and carbon dioxide. An added benefit is it will produce greenhouse gas credits.

“They call it black gold, and it truly is,” said Don Nelson, project finance director for Bison Renewable Energy. The Cornerstone BRAD plant under construction north of Sioux Center, Iowa, will process manure from swine, feedlot, dairy and poultry operations as well as waste from ethanol plants, meat and milk processors and even bakeries.

“We can take all these things — be scavengers — and bring them into our facility,” Nelson said.

The benefits of the operation include reduced odor due to farmsite collections and the enclosed process of transforming the waste, will provide a manure management tool for large-scale livestock producers and will create 50 to 75 jobs for Sioux County.

“Sioux County is one of the five most livestock intensive counties in the nation,” Nelson said.

The start-up stage for Cornerstone BRAD will begin in August. The project is estimated to generate more than $2.5 million in tax revenue in the county.

The Bioscience Conference continues today with a keynote address by Gov. Tim Pawlenty at 8:30 a.m. in the Fine Arts building on the Minnesota West Community and Technical College campus in Worthington. Panels today include Education-Industry Workforce Development from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m., and Bioscience: Research at Work, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:25 p.m.

 

 

Pawlenty praises Worthington at Bioscience Conference

Ryan McGaughey Worthington Daily Globe
Published Saturday, March 29, 2008

WORTHINGTON — Gov. Tim Pawlenty mingled with eighth-grade science students and served as keynote speaker Friday morning during a two-hour visit to the fourth annual Bioscience Conference at Minnesota West Community and Technical College.

Pawlenty gave keynote remarks of approximately 20 minutes before transitioning into his weekly radio program, “Good Morning Minnesota,” shortly after 9 a.m. After wrapping up his duties inside the Fine Arts Theater, the Republican governor moved into the college’s commons area to view science displays coordinated by Worthington Middle School students — and even take time for a little air hockey.

The second day of the two-day conference, coordinated by Worthington Regional Economic Development Corp., began with introductory remarks from WREDC Chairman Bruce Viessman and Minnesota West President Ron Wood, who with Worthington Mayor Alan Oberloh announced the development of a partnership between the City of Worthington, Nobles County, Minnesota West and the University of Minnesota to promote bioscience industries.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty gestures during his speech as the keynote speaker at Friday morning’s Bioscience Conference at the Fine Arts Building on the Worthington campus of Minnesota West Community and Technical College.

“I think the partnerships we’re beginning to form here and these relationships ... instead of hearing about the black gold of Texas, you’ll be hearing about the prairie gold of southwest Minnesota,” Wood said. “This is the kind of stuff that makes us a place to look to in the future.”

“We really have something to be proud of here in Worthington,” Oberloh added.

Moments later, Pawlenty echoed Oberloh’s comments, explaining that leadership is important in developing economic initiatives.

“The City of Worthington is very fortunate to have leadership that understands a vision,” Pawlenty said, hailing the city for its “outstanding economic development team” and calling it “a community that understands the importance of partnership.”

Pawlenty referenced Peter Drucker — “one of the most profound strategic thinkers of our time” — in discussing the importance of not resting on any laurels.

“The things that got us here will not get us there,” Pawlenty said. “You must see the future — not be swamped by it.”

The governor noted that Minnesotans, as well as the nation and the world, are experiencing change “more rapidly, and more profound” than any other time.

“What are the forces of change? We cannot stop them, but we can certainly strategize to take advantage of them,” Pawlenty said.

While the U.S. has a population of 300 million, China’s is 1.3 billion, noted the governor. India will graduate 500,000 engineers this year, he added; the U.S. will graduate 50,000, and will graduate more psychology majors than engineers.

“We’re not going to be the biggest, we’re not going to be cheapest, so then we have to be the smartest,” Pawlenty said. “This is why the vision of bioscience in Worthington is so important to our region, our state and our nation.”

Pawlenty spoke of how the “exploding” realm of bioscience fits with Minnesota’s agricultural strength. The potential result can be an abundance of jobs that keep our young people here after completing their education.

“We need to offer jobs that people want to stay for,” Pawlenty said, acknowledging science club members seated in the front rows. “This industry having a demonstrable presence ... is a big part of it.

“Worthington has planted a flag and said, ‘We’re going to lead,’” he added. “We see this future, we want to be part of it and we congratulate you for it.”

During his radio show, Pawlenty welcomed WMF science club member Claire Bents, who won a rock-paper-scissors contest to earn the right to appear.

“I think that science is a really good experience because we are the future,” she said. “Some of us might be future scientists and do a lot of good in the world.”

Other radio guests were Dale Walhlstrom of the BioBusiness Alliance of Minnesota and WREDC manager Glenn Thuringer.