Biography : Paul G. Sebesta, Ph.D.

Paul Sebesta earned his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Oklahoma State University. Dr. Sebesta began his career in 1980 as an Assistant Professor of Agronomy and winter wheat breeder at North Dakota State University. In 1982 he assumed the position of project leader with HybriTech Seed International Incorporated with responsibility for wheat germplasm acquisition and development. Dr. Sebesta began his administrative career in 1987 as a unit head with the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station where he was responsible for intellectual property rights management, plant material licensing as well as foundation seed production and distribution. In 1995 he assumed his current position with the University of California as Director of the Desert Research and Extension Center. His current research interests focus on the use of sugarcane and other alternative crops for the production of renewable energy and other bio-products. Dr. Sebesta is active in a number of professional societies and serves as Vice President and member of the Board of Directors for the Research Center Administrators Society. He is also co-founder and chief operating officer of Salero Bioenergy (a renewable energy/bioproducts consulting firm) and Managing Director of The Sonoran Group (a renewable bioproducts project development group). Dr. Sebesta has a strong personal interest in environmentally friendly, renewable energy technologies including waste to energy and biomass to ethanol.