KU News Release

Media advisory: Udall Foundation tour includes stops at KU, Haskell

LAWRENCE — A University of Kansas researcher working to recycle waste grease from campus kitchens into biodiesel fuel will meet with representatives of the Morris K. Udall Foundation at 8 a.m. Tuesday, July 10, to talk about a biodiesel reactor lab under construction at KU.

Susan M. Williams, associate professor of chemical engineering, and Ilya Tabakh, a spring 2007 master’s degree graduate in computer engineering from Kansas City, Mo., will provide a small-scale demonstration of their research and samples of biodiesel fuels produced from simulated waste oil. The reactors being installed in the new lab were purchased by KU’s Student Senate and through funds from KU’s Transportation Research Center.

The foundation representatives’ visit to KU is part of a national tour promoting public service on Native American and environmental issues in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Udall scholarship program.

Jeff Severin, director of KU’s Center for Sustainability and a master’s student in urban planning, will be the host for the Udall representatives.

WHAT: The 13 people on the Udall Legacy Bus Tour will spend a day learning about how two Lawrence universities are addressing environmental and Native American issues. KU and Haskell Indian Nations University are two of 11 campuses being highlighted this summer by the cross-country tour. The carbon-neutral tour travels in a motor coach that uses a blend of 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent ultra-low sulfur diesel and is the first motor coach approved by the University of Vermont’s “Green Coach Certification” program.

WHEN AND WHERE: Tuesday, July 10

KU
— 8-8:30 a.m., 1 Eaton Hall (dean’s office conference room), 1520 W. 15th St.
— 8:45-9:30 a.m., Ad Astra House, 1033 Kentucky St.; tour participants will view the student-run cooperative’s sustainable practices in renovation and operation

Haskell Indian Nations University
— 10 a.m.-noon, tour of campus and cultural center
— 2-5 p.m., tour of Wakarusa Wetlands

WHO: Jeff Severin, director of KU’s Center for Sustainability; Lori Tapahonso, public information officer for Haskell; Laura Adams, 2006 Udall scholarship recipient at KU, Ad Astra House alumna and engineer with Black and Veatch, Corp. of Kansas City, Mo.; Dustin Jensen, University of Missouri-Kansas City Udall scholar working with the Kansas City Metropolitan Energy Center; 13 college-age participants of the national Udall Legacy Bus Tour. The tour was organized by the Morris K. Udall Foundation, an independent federal agency that awards the premier merit-based scholarships, fellowships and internships for studies related to the environment and Native American public policy and health care in the United States.

WHY: The Udall Foundation has awarded scholarships to alumni of KU and Haskell, and the bus tour will highlight initiatives taken by those students and their schools. “At a time when the news about the environment and Native American issues emphasizes the problems only, we felt that this bus tour could tell a different story — a story about the positive solutions being found by our young Udall alumni, cities, tribal communities and others,” said Chris Helms, executive director of the Udall Foundation.

Since the first Udall scholarships were offered in 1996, 17 have been awarded to 16 KU students (one student received the scholarship twice). Current Udall scholars at KU are Raymond “Studie” Red Corn a senior majoring in civil engineering from Pawhuska, Okla., and a member of the Osage Nation; Anton Robert Bengtson, a senior in environmental studies from Salina; Sarah Laurel Brokenleg, a senior in social welfare from Sioux Falls, S.D., and Vancouver, British Columbia, and a member of the Rosebud Lakota Sioux Nation. Brokenleg also is a Haskell alumna.

Recently graduated Udall scholars from KU are: Laura M. Adams, Topeka and Overbrook, bachelor’s in computer engineering, summer 2006; Andrew Harrington, Olathe, bachelor’s in architecture, spring 2007; and Trisha Renee Shrum, Olathe, bachelor’s in environmental studies, spring 2006. Shrum won the scholarship twice.

VISUALS: First-ever green-certified biodiesel motor coach and uniformed Udall Legacy Bus Tour participants.

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The University of Kansas is a major comprehensive research and teaching university. University Relations is the central public relations office for KU's Lawrence campus.