LEWISTON – A pioneer in the sustainable production of ethanol fuels from plant materials will give two public presentations at Bates College next week.

At 7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 28, Professor Lee Rybeck Lynd will offer a lecture about ethanol made from cellulosic biomass – plant resources rich in cellulose – and its potential role in a more environmentally sustainable U.S. economy. The event will take place in the Edmund S. Muskie Archives.

At 4:10 p.m. Monday, Oct. 29, Lynd will lead a biology seminar in Room 204, Carnegie Science Hall, 44 Campus Ave.

Both events are open to the public at no charge.

A member of the Bates class of 1979, Lynd is a professor of engineering science and adjunct associate professor of biological science at Dartmouth. He is known as a leader in finding cost-effective means of making cellulosic ethanol.

Lynd’s achievements were recognized last spring when he received the inaugural $100,000 Lemelson-MIT Sustainability Award.

Along with his Dartmouth commitments, Lynd leads biomass conversion research at a new U.S. Department of Energy-funded biofuels center at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in Tennessee. He is also chief scientific officer and co-founder of the for-profit, New England-based Mascoma Corp., one of several companies with cellulosic ethanol facilities planned or under construction.