InSites is a quarterly newsletter that highlights the personalities and projects of the Waste Management Research and Education Institute (WMREI) of The University of Tennessee. WMREI is an affiliate of the EERC.
WMREI was created in 1985 as a state-funded Center of Excellence. Research areas include solid-, hazardous-, and nuclear-waste management; waste minimization; and pollution prevention.
Biotechnology is the focal point of the institute's technical research, while issues involving public attitudes and federal/state policies related to waste-management issues are the primary concerns of the institute's policy research.
For additional information about InSites, or to be added to our mailing list, please write InSites, WMREI, The University of Tennessee, 311 Conference Building, Knoxville, TN 37996-4134, call 865-974-1156, or fax 865-974-1838. Or, if you prefer, e-mail Constance Griffith cbgriffith@utk.edu.
Table of Contents
HIDDEN
TARGETS Smoke
Signals, Elise
LeQuire COMBATING
ALIEN INVADERS Microstegium
Vimineum: The Dark Invader, Kris
Christen
Top
10 Most Severe Exotic Threats Facing Cades Cove
Top
10 Most Severe Exotic Threats Facing GSMNP
Subterranean
Science, By Kris Christen Staff
Citings
Groundwork
in environmental toxicology is spawning breakthroughs in medical applications of
biotechnology.
By
Elise LeQuire
Since
President Richard Nixon declared war on cancer in 1971, victory has seemed
elusive. But recently, highly sensitive tests are helping researchers zoom in on
cell changes at the molecular level and ushering in a new era of diagnostic and
therapeutic breakthroughs.
These
medical bioassays can identify and analyze specific biological molecules that
are markers for several cancers, including prostate, liver, breast, and lung,
says Yeesook Cho, a senior research assistant professor who joined the
University of Tennessee's (UT) Center for Environmental Biotechnology (CEB) late
last year.
Cho
comes to UT from the Cellular Biochemistry Section of the National Cancer
Institute (NCI), where she studied cancer markers in cancer patients' serum and
human cancer cell lines. The identification and measurement of cancer
markers-molecules occurring in blood or tissue-can be helpful in patient
diagnosis and clinical management.
At
NCI, Cho and colleagues identified an enzyme, called extracellular protein
kinase-A (ECPKA), that is a possible cancer marker in human cancer patients.
"We found that ECPKA is expressed 10 times higher in cancer patients' serum
than in normal serum," Cho says. Detecting these markers in blood serum
will lead to earlier detection and treatment of cancer.
"In
the early stages, cancer may not show any visible symptoms, but detection of
certain substances in the blood early on would be a signal that further medical
attention is needed." Cho says. And that could save lives.
Express
Yourself
One
of the attractions CEB offers biomedical researchers like Cho is its microarray
facilities, which allow investigators to home in on the genome sequence of human
and animal genes. In the past, researchers investigating cell changes at the
genetic level had to study one gene at a time. That limitation spawned the
adage: "One gene, one post-doc."
The
new microarray technology is based on a database of over 40,000 fragments of
genes called expressed sequence tags, according to the National Institutes of
Health's Office of Science Education and Outreach. Robots arrange minute amounts
of these tags on a microscopic slide, and fluorescent markers allow researchers
to monitor which genes are active or inactive in the presence of a particular
substance and to characterize the nature of the gene. Some genes are expressed
all the time, while others are expressed only at certain times and under certain
conditions. This can indicate whether a cell is dying or going into division.
"Gene
expression is state of the art in biotechnology," says CEB's director, Gary
Sayler.
About
two years ago, CEB began acquiring the instrumentation for microarray
technology, building the physical infrastructure, and fostering collaborations
with other faculty, particularly in UT's College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM).
"The
instrumentation allows scientists to investigate a tremendous number of genes
simultaneously to see if they are being affected negatively or positively by
environmental contaminants," Sayler says.
This
technology is an offshoot of the Human Genome Project, which is sequencing the
genome of humans as well as selected model organisms. "Once the sequences
are known, that information is used to make these gene expression arrays, which
can include several thousands of genes expected to be associated with cancer,
autoimmune disorders, and other diseases. It allows virtually all the genes to
be seen simultaneously," Sayler says.
Slow
Burn
In
addition to her research on cancer markers, Cho will be pursuing research on how
toxic compounds found in high concentrations in cigarette smoke-polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)-affect human health. This research is a natural
extension of CEB's work on remediation of industrial contaminants such as coal
tar and creosote at Superfund sites in the Chattanooga area (See "Creosote
Creek," InSites, Summer 2001). In fact, the PAHs found in cigarette smoke
are identical to those found in environmental contaminants.
"It's
exciting, taking biomedical research and applying it to the environmental
scenario to determine the human exposure risk of PAHs," Sayler says.
"That's where Yeesook's research comes in. Whether it's a smoking route or
an environmental route, this happens to be the same class of contaminants we've
been investigating all along." Moreover, Sayler notes, much of the cleanup
of environmental sites has been achieved. "It's a twist, a different
direction that acknowledges the changing landscape of federal funding," he
says.
A
Certain Glow
Cho
is also intrigued by the possibility of increasing the sensitivity of testing
for cancer markers such as ECPKA using CEB's expertise in bioluminescent
reporter technology. "We need to develop more-sensitive and easier
detection methods to detect very small amounts of molecules," Cho says.
"I would like to apply bioluminescent reporter techniques to find the
molecular targets for innovative therapy, diagnosis, and chemoprevention of
cancer."
"This
would be an amazing technology, if we can apply it to mammalian cells,"
says Patricia K. Tithof, a cardiovascular researcher at CVM. Tithof will be
collaborating with Cho and CEB in their biomedical and environmental research.
(See "Smoke Signals" on page 3.)
While
most of the CEB's work so far has been with prokaryotes like bacteria and has
focused on environmental applications, applying bioreporter technology to
mammalian cells has broader applications. On the environmental front-for
instance at the Chattanooga Superfund site-mammalian cells transected with the
reporter system could be attached to a gene of interest, and when that started
to fluoresce, it would indicate a specific gene linked to cancer. As a medical
diagnostic tool in humans, the possibilities are exciting.
"Instead
of going once a year to get a mammogram, if you know that a specific gene is
related to mammary cancer, you could use that system to look in real
This
would not only lead to a faster, more sensitive, more accurate, and less
intrusive test, it would also alleviate the anxiety people feel when a lump,
which may or may not be malignant, is detected through routine mammogram
screening.
While
ECPKA markers can identify a number of cancers, Cho cautions that there are some
limitations to the use of cancer markers. "Further research is needed to
evaluate their clinical value," Cho says. Furthermore, even though many
cancer markers have been developed, these markers don't cover all types of
cancers. There is also a slight risk of false positives.
Nevertheless, Cho is hopeful that her research will produce novel approaches to cancer research. Indeed, that is why she wants to develop better detection methods for this enzyme. "Early cancer detection is crucially important," Cho says, "and ECPKA is one of the most promising molecular targets that can be used in the early detection of cancer."
* * *
For
more information contact Gary Sayler, CEB, The University of Tennessee, Dabney
Hall, Knoxville, TN 37996-1605, or call 865-974-8080.
Elise
LeQuire
New
research indicates that atherosclerosis and cancer-diseases linked to
smoking-may follow a common chemical pathway.
Heart
disease and cancer are the leading killers in the United States, accounting for
over 1.2 million deaths in 2000. Until recently, however, the two diseases were
considered very different. Researchers are now finding that the disease
processes for atherosclerosis and cancer share a common chemical route, known as
the arachidonic pathway.
"This
pathway is the one you target every time you take an aspirin. It's involved in
the way components of cigarette smoke kill endothelial cells in the arteries.
And it's involved in the development of cancer," says Patricia Tithof, an
assistant professor of physiology and a researcher in cardiovascular disease at
the University of Tennessee's (UT) College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM).
Tithof,
who came to UT in 1998, was drawn by research at UT's Center for Environmental
Biotechnology (CEB) on compounds known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs),
environmental contaminants produced from the incomplete combustion of a number
of organic materials, including coal tar. CEB has been investigating the
presence of PAHs in industrial waste sites in the Chattanooga region. (See
"Creosote Creek," InSites, Summer 2001).
Tithof's
work at UT on the development of atherosclerosis is a surprising, but logical,
offshoot of her postdoctoral research in environmental toxicology at Michigan
State University, where she studied polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) found at a
Superfund site in the Great Lakes.
Tithof
discovered that PCBs, like PAHs, activate the arachidonic cascade that leads to
cancer and atherosclerosis. "I was really interested in CEB's work in
environmental toxicology, so I tried to get CEB's director, Gary Sayler,
interested in the work I was doing." And she did.
In
recent research, Tithof has identified specific PAH compounds, present in
cigarette smoke, that induce abnormal death of endothelial cells. Endothelial
cells line the body's arteries and allow blood to flow unimpeded. Abnormal cell
death can lead to the formation of plaques and lesions that cause strokes and
hardening of the arteries.
Cell
death, or apoptosis, is a normal process in some instances. For example, Tithof
says, "when you watch a fetus develop, the hands start out as clubs. There
are no fingers. Digits develop by cell proliferation and apoptosis, both of
which require changes in gene expression. In the case of compounds found in
cigarette smoke, however, these chemicals produce an abnormal amount of
apoptosis. It's a process that goes bad."
Though
PAH compounds are known carcinogens, their role in the process of
atherosclerosis has not been clearly understood.
Many
of these compounds have not been studied extensively in mammalian systems. While
many researchers have studied prokaryotes, unicellular organisms such as yeast
and bacteria, there are "virtually
only two or three papers on mammalian tissues," says Tithof, who uses human
and porcine cells in her research.
In
addition to her work on atherosclerosis, Tithof has coauthored research studies
on the development of lung adenocarcinoma with Hildegard Schuller, a
distinguished professor of comparative pathology at UT's CVM. Schuller's focus
is a derivative of nicotine, NNK, which is probably the most carcinogenic
compound in cigarette smoke. Nicotine itself is not thought to be carcinogenic.
Together, Schuller and Tithof will investigate the role of arachidonic acid
pathways in the development of NNK-caused cancer.
"The
interesting thing is that the major pathway for cancer and heart disease is the
same. They are different disease processes, but they use similar pathways,"
Tithof says.
While
the best prevention of tobacco-related lung cancer, as well as atherosclerosis,
is cessation of smoking, the reality is that the incidence of smoking has not
decreased significantly in the United States and is rising in other parts of the
world, Tithof says. But because of the number of lawsuits, tobacco companies are
finally being forced to address some of the ethical issues concerning their
products.
"The
tobacco industry is interested in identifying the most toxic substances and
eliminating them, especially NNK, " Tithof says.
Tithof
also cites the protective capabilities of fatty acids found in fish oil.
"A
20-year epidemiological study showed that Japanese-American smokers who ate fish
more than three times a week were less likely to develop heart disease than
smokers who didn't eat fish. This protective mechanism involves inhibition of
the arachidonic acid cascade," she says.
In
all, Tithof estimates there are more than 300 active metabolites of arachidonic
acid with both healthful and harmful effects. Exploring their functions may lead
to breakthroughs in the search for prevention, diagnosis, and cures for cancer
and heart disease. "The development of novel drugs that are aspirin-like
would be helpful. If we can't eliminate smoking, we need to identify pathways
like these that have useful therapeutic value."
For
more information, contact Patricia Tithof, Department of Comparative Medicine,
College of Veterinary Medicine, The University of Tennessee, 2407 River Drive,
Knoxville, TN 37996-4500, call 865-974-5819, or email <ptithof@utk.edu>.
Humans
aren't the only species whose presence has changed the appearance of Cades Cove.
By
Kris Christen
Editor's
Note: Each issue of InSites features an article from Sightline, a semiannual
publication that focuses on the environmental health of Great Smoky Mountains
National Park. Sightline is a collaborative effort among the University of
Tennessee's Energy, Environment and Resources Center; Great Smoky Mountains
National Park; Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park; and Great Smoky
Mountains Natural History Association. The following article appears in the
Winter/Spring 2002 edition of the publication. To receive a complimentary copy
of Sightline, contact Constance Griffith at cbgriffith@utk.edu or 865-974-1156.
By
pulling, cutting, spraying, and burning, the National Park Service (NPS) hopes
to rid Cades Cove, and the rest of Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP),
of non-native species while taking steps to restore its historical vegetative
diversity. And that's no easy job, as anyone who has ever tried to maintain a
lawn free of dandelions-also an exotic plant-could tell you.
Exotic,
alien, introduced, nonindigenous, and non-native are all synonyms for species
that humans have intentionally or unintentionally introduced into an area
outside a species' natural range. The NPS considers invasions by such species
one of the most serious threats facing the parks today.
Second
only to roadsides in the Park, Cades Cove hosts the densest population of exotic
species in GSMNP, says Jenny Beeler, an NPS biological science technician. In
the open areas of the Cove, non-native grasses and weeds such as fescue,
lespedeza, clover, and European orchard grass cover close to 95 percent of the
land area, Beeler says. In the Cove's wooded areas, another exotic called
Microstegium vimineum, or Japanese stilt grass, rules; in fact, Microstegium
inhabits as much as 50 to 60 percent of these areas. In all, more than 380
different kinds of nonnative plants currently live in the Park, according to
Beeler, and the NPS is actively controlling 50 of the most invasive.
Biggest
Threats
Exotics
are ranked depending "on the invasiveness of a particular species, how
abundant it is in the Park, and how difficult it is to control given what we
know about control methods, if anything," Beeler says.
Severe
threats, according to the Southeast Exotic Pest Plant Council, include species
that spread easily into native plant communities, displace native vegetation,
and have the potential for becoming widespread. Significant threats include
plant species that don't presently spread quite as easily as those in the
severe-threat category, and lesser threats include exotic plant species that
spread in or near disturbed areas, but aren't presently considered a threat to
native plant communities.
Fescue,
lespedeza, and Japanese stilt grass rank as the biggest threats in the Cove as
far as exotics go (see box on page 6 for top-10 list). So far, the Park Service
has put a lot of manpower into gaining an upper hand over the first two, but
nothing has been done yet to counteract Microstegium's advance. "That's
because we're still in the dark about the best way to control it," Beeler
says (see "Microstegium," next page).
Some
of the really bad exotics, though, can be found in the more pristine
backcountry, and these are the Park's highest priority, Beeler says. Take the
Chinese yam, for instance. It's a vine with aerial tubers similar to tiny
potatoes that, when they break off, can fall anywhere and start rooting into a
new plant or be transported to another place by animals or unsuspecting hikers,
Beeler says.
Many
of the exotic inhabitants that threaten the Park's native plant communities were
brought in by early settlers. For example, "They brought grass species they
were familiar with, as well as a variety of horticultural species, including
honeysuckle and ornamental roses," says Kris Johnson, a Park Service
supervisory forester. They also brought apple trees, corn, wheat, and sorghum,
none of which are a threat.
Still
other exotic species were brought in by federal agencies when the Park Service
began taking over the land. In the 1930s, "they actually brought in some of
the European grasses-timothy, orchard grass, and lespedeza-because they wanted
to make these areas into meadows to lease to farmers for cattle grazing or to
mow for hay," Beeler says.
Then,
throughout the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, the Park Service followed Soil
Conservation Service guidelines for ditching and draining wetlands and planting
pasture species to increase the amount of available farmland, as well as farm
productivity. "That's when most of the lespedeza and fescue were
planted," Johnson says, to feed the 600 head of cattle living in the Cove
at that time.
R
& R: Removal and Restoration
About
eight years ago, the Park Service began restoring wetlands and getting rid of
exotics in an effort to return Cades Cove to its former vegetative posture.
Using study plots to determine the most effective methods for removing various
species, Park personnel "worked on multiflora rose, Japanese honeysuckle,
and several exotic trees, including tree of heaven, privet, and
periwinkle," Johnson says. "This year we really started working hard
on the lespedeza."
The
Park Service expects its new greenhouse at the Twin Creeks Natural Resource
Center to hasten the process of restoring native grasses and wildflowers to the
Cove. Because of a mandate to use only species that originated in the Park,
seeds for replanting have to be collected within the Park itself, with genotypes
from different areas of the Park kept separate, Johnson says.
In
the past, the Park sent its collected seeds to the Natural Resource Conservation
Service's plant materials center in Beltsville, MD, to be cleaned and
propagated. The plugs were then sent back for planting in the Cove. This
arrangement placed restrictions on the number of species and the amount of seed
that could be sent, Beeler says. "Now we can do all that on our own, and we
can do more species and think about more projects."
The
Park now has enough stored seed to begin restoring several acres in the Cove
next year, according to Beeler, and that's in addition to the 5000-square-foot
demonstration meadow already planted near the old red wolf overlook on the
Cove's loop road. So far, this plot holds six different native grass species and
five wildflower species.
The
Park Service is also using the new greenhouse to grow plants for revegetation in
areas where there has been construction, Johnson says. "Before the work on
the tunnels began on Highway 441, we collected seed from the site-Virginia
creeper, virgin's bower, asters, and hydranga-and we also salvaged a lot of
plants that we're keeping in our shade house." Once the construction
project is finished, the seeds and plants will be replanted at the site.
The
restoration work will also make life a lot easier for the large number of rare
plants inhabiting the Cove, says Janet Rock, the Park's botanist. "We
continually monitor rare plant populations in the Park, and although they aren't
currently showing any new declines, they're not getting bigger and better,
either," Rock says.
Two
rare plants that have probably been extirpated from Cades Cove include the
purple fringeless orchid and the Virginia chain fern, according to Rock. Other
rare plants in the Cove include the marsh bellflower, marsh fern, and American
columbo. Threats to these plants are constant, and include such habitat changes
as forest succession, deer overbrowsing, and hiker trampling.
Habitat
Renaissance
The
Cove's wildlife also stand to benefit from the removal of exotics, especially
fescue, Beeler says. Like lawn grass, fescue is a mat-forming grass that makes
passage difficult for small mammals and birds. Furthermore, fescue offers little
in the way of nesting opportunities for such animals; however, native
warm-season grasses do, says Beeler. And in an ideal meadow, bare ground between
these bunch grasses would offer travel paths and a means of escape from
predators while providing ideal nesting spots for small wildlife.
Moreover,
vegetation studies in the Cove have shown that areas of native grasses and
wildflowers harbor much more diversity than do fescue fields, fostering an
increase of organisms such as insects, small mammals, birds, and others along
the food chain, Beeler says. "So all in all, converting fescue fields in
the Cove to native species will be beneficial to the entire ecosystem."
One of the biggest problems the Park faces with its Cove restoration work, however, is public perception, Beeler says. "People come through and see all the tall grasses and think we're just letting it go, that we'll be letting the trees grow up; they don't realize how native grasses will benefit wildlife and basic diversity in the Cove."
*
* *
For
more information contact Jenny Beeler, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 107
Park Headquarters Road, Gatlinburg, TN 37738, 865-430-4748.
To
volunteer to collect seeds, plant native-plant plugs, or pull exotic plants,
contact NPS Volunteer Coordinator Babette Collavo at 865-436-1265.
Microstegium Vimineum: The Dark Invader
Kris
Christen
A
tough, wiry grass typically found in moist, wooded areas is currently ranked as
one of the biggest threats to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The plant,
called Microstegium vimineum but commonly known as Japanese stilt grass, is
ranked in the top 20 biggest threats for Tennessee as a whole, according to Jake
Weltzin, an assistant professor in the University of Tennessee Department of
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. In addition, Microstegium is on the federal
invasive-plants list, Weltzin says. Although Japanese stilt grass has spread
widely throughout the entire eastern United States, nothing is known about its
potential impacts on natural systems. Likewise, because Microstegium leaves few
clues to the environmental variables that influence where it's most likely to
establish itself, effective control measures have been difficult to determine.
Through
greenhouse and field experiments, Weltzin and Patrice Cole, a UT doctoral
student in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, have found that light seems to be
the most important environmental factor. In fact, Microstegium can tolerate low
light conditions that would destroy many other plants, yet the grass grows
bigger and produces more seeds when given more light in greenhouse experiments,
the researchers say.
An
additional factor complicating the search for effective control measures is that
"you very often see a striking boundary or edge to the patches," Cole
says. "One spot will support a big patch, and three feet away, there won't
be any Microstegium at all. Why? Is it a patch that's just beginning to spread?
Is it actually a patch that's shrinking? Or is it a very stable edge being
maintained by one or more environmental factors such as light, water, soil
texture, or nitrogen?" Cole asks.
The
biggest uncertainty however, is whether Microstegium is crowding out natives.
Actually, says Cole, "It's pretty hard to imagine that it's not having some
sort of impact because there's just so much of it".
Top
10 Most Severe Exotic Threats Facing Cades Cove
1.
Fescue
2. Sericea lespedeza
3. Japanese stilt grass
4. Multiflora rose
5. Periwinkle
6. Foxtail
7. Orchard grass
8. Velvet grass
9. Timothy
10. Japanese honeysuckle
Top
10 Most Severe Exotic Threats Facing GSMNP
1.
Japanese stilt grass
2. Chinese yam
3. Japanese honeysuckle
4. Garlic mustard
5. Princess tree
6. Mimosa
7. Tree of heave
8. Multiflora rose
9. Privet
10. Crown vetch
A
field trip to South Africa teaches students that a trip down into the darkness
can be the best way to appreciate the light of science.
By
Kris Christen
How
do you get students excited enough about science that they'll make it their
career? Try leading them down 1,400 meters in an elevator cage to the wet, murky
underground environment of a gold mine. Then ask them to trek a couple of
kilometers in 90¡F-plus heat along a dark, uneven path to scrape slimy scum off
rocky walls and collect water, air, and rock samples.
Though
this may sound like an exercise in educational torture, students who recently
participated in these activities emerged from their subterranean field trip with
a renewed interest in science.
"It
was a real adventure, and I loved the fact that we were getting away from the
lab and actually getting dirty for science," says Jonesta Nolan, a senior
majoring in chemistry at the University of Tennessee (UT).
Nolan
was one of 13 undergraduate students (five Americans and eight South Africans)
who participated in a five-day field laboratory workshop held in South Africa
last December. The workshop was organized and coordinated by UT's Waste
Management Research and Education Institute (WMREI) and Center for Biomarker
Analysis (CBA) to provide undergraduate minority students in the United States
and "previously disadvantaged" students in South Africa with an
experience in field laboratory logistics and research.
Participating
students came from seven institutions: UT, Florida A&M, New Mexico Institute
of Mining and Technology, and Princeton University, as well as South Africa's
University of the North, University of Witwatersrand, and University of the Free
State.
Digging
Deep
The
workshop was a component of an ongoing U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF)
project to study life in the subsurface environment of South Africa's gold
mines. These mines are the deepest mines in the world, some going down as far as
four kilometers, according to T.C. Onstott, a professor in Princeton's
geosciences department who is leading the NSF effort.
"What
we're primarily looking for is whether or not organisms are down there, what
they are, what they do, and whether they have any special metabolic processes
that could be of interest in terms of bio-mining or enzymes for biotechnological
developments," says Susan Pfiffner, a CBA research assistant professor.
One
idea is to isolate genetic material, either from environmental samples or
isolated bacteria, that can withstand high pHs and high temperatures, says Kim
Davis, WMREI's assistant director. "From there, we might genetically modify
other bacteria using these DNA strands or use enzymes from these bacteria in
microbiological processes."
In
this way, various waste streams could be eliminated from manufacturing
processes. Likewise, if bacteria could be engineered to leach ores out of rock
located deep underground, other waste streams might be eliminated from mining
activities, Davis says.
Attracting
Minorities to Science
By
engaging undergraduate minority students in such unique and multidisciplinary
research, Pfiffner and Davis say they hope to recruit more such students into
the engineering, biological, and environmental sciences.
"The
idea is to engage the next generation of scientists and increase that pipeline
to include more underrepresented minorities, which we hope will bring about
change," Pfiffner says.
Other
workshop goals include enhancing both the U.S. and South African scientific
infrastructure; fostering a science-and-technology pipeline between the
countries; facilitating the transfer of innovative technologies; and fortifying
South Africa's foundation in biotechnology, bioremediation, and environmental
engineering, which are important growth industries.
Organisms
as Resources
"Organisms
procured from the mines are really South Africa's natural resources,"
Pfiffner says. "If we can find any enzymes or products with a
biotechnological application, that can help advance the nation's economy."
Such technology transfers lead to less reliance on the United States, resulting
in better trade, she says.
To
give students a feel for interdisciplinary research, as well as to expand their
knowledge base and skills in field and laboratory biology, workshop mentors gave
lectures on fissure-water geochemistry, microbial processes, microbial
characterization and diversity, molecular techniques and applications, and
enzymatic processes, according to Pfiffner.
On
the second day, students donned protective gear and weighed themselves down with
an array of sampling equipment to go down into the Beatrix gold mine near
Bloemfontein.
After
hiking to their study site, the students collected fissure water from flowing
boreholes and gathered biofilms and rock, air, and gas samples for further
analysis. Students performed some tests on the spot, checking for pH,
temperature, dissolved oxygen, sulfide, iron, chloride, and ammonia
concentrations.
"Spot-testing
helps you get a quick check on the geochemistry that's going on in your water
sample, which gives you an idea of how to culture the organisms later,"
Pfiffner says.
Once
back in the lab, the students spent the rest of their time conducting various
microbial and molecular analyses for bacteria in the samples, trying to get an
idea of which organisms were present and their abundance. After performing the
analyses, they wrote up lab reports describing their methods and results.
"We're
trying to give them an idea of multidisciplinary interactionas well as how to
pull people together as a team to garner information and interpret it,"
Pfiffner says.
Success
Story
According
to all involved, the workshop was a resounding success. In fact, a survey taken
after the workshop indicates that the students enjoyed the experience and found
interactions among other students and with mentors to be particularly valuable.
"Aside
from the fact that this program looks great on any graduate school application,
the experience of working with people so accomplished in their fields inspires
me to strive toward my own goals," Nolan says.
The
workshop, and the NSF program as a whole, has fostered collaborations among some
of the mentors as well. The New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology and
University of the Free State, for example, are working together to isolate
bacteria that may be useful to industry. New Mexico Tech is also working with
the University of the North to isolate potentially useful metal-reducing and
metal-oxidizing bacteria from contaminated sites.
Such
educational programs expose students and faculty to international points of
view, concerns, and people that they just can't get-even in the best classrooms,
laboratories, or libraries in the United States, says Jim Gehlhar, director of
UT's Center for International Education. "This is actual hands-on, eyes-on,
and ears-on contact directly overseas, and it's just not replaceable."
Pfiffner
and Davis are now preparing to apply for another NSF grant to expand the
workshop to a six-to eight-week summer session that offers course credit. They
also hope to develop an undergraduate exchange program that would bring South
African students to the United States.
*
* *
For more information contact Kim Davis, WMREI, The University of Tennessee, 311 Conference Center Building, Knoxville, TN 37996-4134, or call 865-974-1847; or Susan Pfiffner, Center for Biomarker Analysis, The University of Tennessee, 10515 Research Drive, Suite 300, Knoxville, TN 37932-2575, or call 865-974-8031.
APPOINTMENTS.
Mary English, a research leader with UT's Energy, Environment and Resources
Center (EERC) was recently appointed to the Tennessee Air Pollution Control
Board. Charged with maintaining the purity of the state's air resources, the
board comprises representatives from state environmental agencies, academia,
private industry, and nongovernmental organizations. English, a representative
of the Tennessee Environmental Council, has been active in smart-growth
planning, which plays a role in improving air quality.
PROJECTS.
EERC Senior Research Associate Kim Davis recently completed an update to HAZDATA,
a database compiled from EPA Superfund Records of Decision (RODs). The U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE) funded this latest leg of the project, which brings
the final version of the database to 1,236 RODs. Davis, also assistant director
of EERC's Waste Management Research and Education Institute, has worked on
HAZDATA since its inception in 1990. Other researchers involved in the update
include Milton Russell of the Joint Institute for Energy and Environment (UT,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory [ORNL], Tennessee Valley Authority) and several
past and present UT students.
Research
staff from EERC's Systems Development Institute (SDI) in collaboration with
researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory designed and maintain
www.fueleconomy.gov, a Web site sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. SDI
researchers involved in the project include Research Associates
Janet
Hopson and Robert Gibson, Senior Research Technician Lisa Li, and Anurag Agarwal,
SDI's assistant director. The site, produced in partnership with the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, features fuel-saving and vehicle-maintenance
tips along with safety, fuel-economy, and pollution-emissions ratings. The site
discloses statistics for 1985 through 2002 model vehicles and displays current
nationwide gas prices.
PUBLICATIONS.
Gary Davis, director of EERC's Center for Clean Products and Clean Technologies
(CCPCT), serves on the National Research Council's Committee on Coal Waste
Impoundments, one of several groups that joined forces to conduct a study
commissioned by The National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Mine Safety and
Health Administration. The findings have been published in Coal Waste
Impoundments: Risks, Responses, and Alternatives (NAS, January 2002).
CCPCT
Research Associates Rajive Dhingra and Jonathan Overly, EERC Research Scientist
Jean Peretz and Research Associate Susan Schexnayder; Associate Professor Bruce
Tonn and Graduate Student Greg Waidley (Department of Urban and Regional
Planning), and Gary Davis, along with Sujit Das (ORNL), prepared a report,
"Environmental Evaluation of Materials in New Generation Vehicles,"
for ORNL and the Office of Advanced Automotive Technologies.
