March 5, 2019

Off to Idaho!

Recent PhD graduate Dr. Pralhad Burli has accepted a position as an Agricultural Economist in the Energy, Environment, Science, and Technology division at Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, Idaho.

Posted in: Program Alumni

The postdoctoral research position at the Idaho National Laboratory will have Dr Burli work on a variety of renewable energy projects. INL contributes to each of the strategic goal areas of DOE: energy, national security, science and environment, as well as being the nation’s leading center for nuclear energy research and development.

Dr Pralhad Burli being hooded at the Graduate Commencement

He obtained his doctorate in Environmental Management in May 2018. His dissertation explored the economic and environmental implications of advanced biofuels in the United States: the production of biofuels offers the prospect of enhancing energy security and providing support to domestic economic activity by bolstering the agricultural and allied sectors. Advanced biofuels can reduce our reliance on food grain-based first generation ethanol, replace part of our fossil fuel consumption needs, and thus potentially reduce environmental impacts through reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. The dissertation focused on the development of switchgrass-based bioenergy from economic, environmental, and policy perspectives.

While at studying for his Ph.D. at Montclair State, Dr Burli was a research assistant for the US-India Consortium for Development of Advanced Biofuel Systems under the aegis of the U.S. Department of Energy. He was also a research assistant for a project sponsored by the United States Department of Agriculture, which assessed the socioeconomic impacts of biofuel development on rural communities in the Southern United States. He had degrees in economics and accounting from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles and the University of Mumbai, India, respectively. Dr Burli will continue to collaborate with Dr. Lal and the Clean Energy and Sustainability Analytics Center (CESAC) at Montclair State University.