Forestry
Confir receives NSF Engines Award to Boost New Forest Products
The University of Maine has partnered with research institutions and community organizations across Northern New England to devise new for est products and management strategies using $1 million from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
The Coalition of Northern Forest Innovation and Research (CONFIR), led by the Northern Forest Center in Concord, New Hampshire, is among the first recipients of the new NSF Engines Development Award, created to bolster research and development among robust partnerships that will accelerate technological, economic and workforce development at the regional level.
With this funding, CONFIR will spend the next two years creating various research proposals to earn the title of NSF Engine and the opportunity to receive up to $160 million. That funding would allow the group to conduct research and design products that will open new markets for rural economies and preserve the Northern Forest for years to come.