June 21, 2010
East Arkansas Community College-Forrest City
Press Release-Photo Attached

The Renewable Energy Technology (RET) class at East Arkansas Community College recently traveled to DeWitt to attend the ‘Field Day’ activities on the Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas campus.

The RET students took a tour of the Biomass and Biofuels demonstration plots planted there. They were shown various crops such as camelina, soybeans, sunflowers, sugar beets, flax, sorghum, switchgrass, gamagrass and miscanthus.  The students also toured the outside laboratory, science lab and viewed the type of technology being utilized in their Biomass and Biofuels programs.

The students attended presentations by Dr. Greg Phillips from Arkansas State University, Dr. Chuck West from the University of Arkansas, Chris Barnoud  of Memphis Bioworks, and Brian Gersmshied of DeWitt Oilseeds.

Renewable Energy Technology is one of the most rapidly growing industries, providing exciting careers in the areas of biofuels, solar, wind, geothermal, tidal, hydro-electric, and nuclear energies.  Recent studies show that by the year 2030, 1 out of 4 workers in the United States will be in the renewable energy or energy efficiency industries.

There are a host of possible careers related to the RET programs in agriculture, manufacturing, construction, installation, and maintenance, as well as scientific and technical, administrative, and service-related activities, that contribute substantially to preserving or restoring environmental quality.

For more information about the EACC RET program, contact Jim Parker at 870-633-4480 ext. 368.

Photo from left: Marco Wright, Timothy Burgess, John Haven, and Kimberly Morris, all of Forrest City.