The Wilson H. Elkins Professorship for the 2009 Fiscal Year has been awarded to UMBI's Dr. Ilia V. Baskakov for his work on Photosynthetic Microbial Fuel Cells (PMFC). Dr. Baskakov is an Associate Professor at UMBI's Medical Biotechnology Center (MBC). University System of Maryland Chancellor William E. Kirwan said that the review committee was greatly impressed with the new concept for bioenergy production. Also, funding from the Elkins Professorship will give undergraduate students the chance to be involved with this exciting project. Eventually, student participation will be extended to include hands-on exercises in bioenergy production for UMBI's K-16 educational programs.