PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (December 1, 2022) – On Monday November 14, Shell Global Solutions (Shell) and Prairie View A&M (PVAMU) met at the Memorial Student Center (MSC) to share updates and progress on the PVAMU-Shell Nature Based Solutions (NBS) Research Program—a five-year, $6 million partnership agreement signed earlier this year.
Nature Based Solutions Program Steering Committee Members
The program that is part of Shell’s technology innovation and funded through the company’s Projects & Technology organization dedicated to funding research to develop new technology solutions. The Shell-PVAMU NBS partnership is headquartered in PVAMU’s College of Agriculture and Human Sciences.
This initiative is part of Shell’s nature-based solutions projects designed to protect, transform or restore land; and this particular project is aimed at effective carbon dioxide utilization and carbon capture by employing innovative renewable energy and environmental sustainability methods.
Prior to the program and dinner, researchers had the opportunity to speak to Shell and other attendees as well as answer questions about their projects with a public display of their projects in the exhibition hall within the MSC.
Some of the projects presented were: Implications for Produce Microbial Safety, Photocatalysts and Membrane Technologies in Different Water Treatment, The Effect of Nitrogen Application on the Growth and Yield of Egyptian Spinach, and Shade signals alter the expression of circadian clock genes and promote stem elongation in bioenergy sorghum.
“The primary goal of this particular program is far beyond than just research. Shell has set an ambitious goal to accomplish this carbon footprint level by 2050 and that takes a lot of courage to take such a stand and work towards.” says Magesh Rajan, Ph.D., P.E., MBA, Vice President of Research & Innovation at PVAMU. “They have been making serious investments on this particular agenda. The partnership with Prairie View University is one of the remarkable partnerships that we have had as a land-grant university with a large college of agriculture on our campus. This partnership means a lot.”
Shell has committed an additional $1 million to PVAMU for university infrastructure improvements and to provide work experience opportunities and retention programs. In addition to further developing students into the next generation of scientists, the new partnership is intended to create a more diverse technical talent pipeline for Shell. The Shell-PVAMU partnership includes significant involvement with Shell staff, who have devoted their time and expertise to collaborate on research projects.
“As part of our research program we are also committed together with you [Prairie View A&M University] to developing a state-of-the art greenhouse that will allow us to do our projects in the biodiversity space and we heard great updates and progress on all of these areas today,” says Dr. Selda Gunsel, president, Shell Global Solutions, “We are very interested in the recruitment from PVAMU obviously we are interested in research partnership but our ultimate goal is to use this partnership to build more intimate relationships between Shell and Prairie View A&M so we can have access to the great talent that the university is preparing for future, next generations of scientist and engineers.”
For Shell Oil Company, investing in a Historically Black University like Prairie View A&M, with agriculture and farming being part of its founding as a land-grant institution, and having the NBS headquartered at PVAMU—with its 700 acres of land dedicated to farm research land—is a winning combination for students and Shell’s future.