Loren Isom
Loren Isom
He/Him
BioWRAP Team
Meet Loren Isom
Assistant Director, Industrial Agricultural Products Center
My role at the UNL Industrial Products Center includes supporting business development and communication between innovative business entities or entrepreneurs and university researchers with complementing expertise. My areas of Research and Professional interest are Rural Economic Development, Value Added Processing for Agriculture Commodities, Biofuels, and Co-products, Biochemicals, and Biopolymers. I was raised on a diversified crop and livestock farm in Northeast Nebraska; attained a B.S. from the University of Nebraska in 1990 and a M.S. from Arizona State University in 2000 before returning to the UNL. My earlier career activities focused on the research/production of halophyte crops in the deserts of Mexico and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
We understand there are many questions you may have in regards to BioWRAP. Here are some answers to some frequently asked questions that we receive.
The long-term goal is to create a locally-sourced, customizable, spray-on biopolymer-based films to serve as soil cover that can be synchronized to crop growth cycles under differing climatic conditions and applied using precision agricultural equipment. The system would also support socioeconomic resiliency, positive bioeconomic cycles, biotechnology adoption, sustainable crop production, and soil health in EPSCoR states.
Transforming biopolymers into a local material will equitably distribute the costs and benefits of biotechnology adoption by crop producers and support rural workforce development. Creating a protective, but permeable spray-on biopolymer cover will provide physical weed suppression, enable crop producers to reduce herbicide use, protect soil ecosystem diversity, effectively manage field edges, help conserve natural resources, buffer waterways from agrochemical runoff, enhance land productivity, and increase crop production resiliency.
We hypothesize that adoption of BioWRAP technology will vary by region and producer characteristics, climate conditions, soil type, and underlying preferences will lead to differential adoption across regions and cropping systems. Our team plans to assess the potential market for BioWRAP using structured group discussions in locations where producers and purchasers/retailers to gain the most accurate assessment of the market potential of biodegradable biofilm technology.
Initial testing will include corn and soybeans. Application of the product may include autonomous spray platforms as well as field scale commercial sprayers.
