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
Fatal Attraction By
Elise LeQuire CEB
Researcher Receives Hispanic Heritage Award A
River Runs Through It Critters
in Space By Janice S. Clifford Biotechnology
and the Sustainable Future Staff
Citings
Human encroachment on bear habitat creates a dangerous situation, especially for bears at the edge of the wilderness.
By Elise LeQuire
During the October 1997 hunting season, interactions between people and bears in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, reached a crisis. Some bears, accustomed to raiding trash cans and taking handouts from people, became easy targets for hunters in and around the town, the premier gateway community to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. These incidents sadly illustrate a fundamental rule of wildlife management: a fed bear is a dead bear.
Intense local media attention and the outrage of some tourists and residents in the community, however, forced local officials to take a somewhat unpopular--though proven--step. In 1999, the town of Gatlinburg passed an ordinance, to take effect in June 2000, requiring animal-resistant garbage containers for all food-producing businesses and residences in certain areas near the park's boundary.
"Sometimes it takes extraordinary events with problem bears for a community to take action," says John Peine, a scientist with Southern Appalachian Field Lab of the U. S. Geological Survey stationed at the University of Tennessee (UT).
Peine, with the help of graduate students in UT's School of Planning, has conducted a study to determine how communities near protected natural areas confront problems that arise when humans and wild animals learn to coexist. A report based on the study was funded by UT's Waste Management Research and Education Institute. The study analyzes federal, state, and local policies addressing bears and waste-management concerns in several locations across the United States. The study underscores the need for interagency cooperation, improved wildlife management, and above all, education in resolving the conflicts between bears and people.
(Too) Close Encounters
Great Smoky Mountains National Park and nearby national forests are some of the few remaining refuges in the Southern Appalachians for Ursus americanus, the black bear, which once roamed freely across the entire continent until settlement and deforestation destroyed much of its habitat. Today, the majority of resident bears in Tennessee inhabit federal lands, Peine says. But bears can't distinguish human-imposed boundaries and often travel far from their home range when natural food supplies are scarce.
In the wild, the bear's diet consists primarily of fruits, nuts, berries, and wild grasses. However, bears are omnivores and will also eat carrion, small game, and occasionally the young of larger animals. They will also eat hot dogs, fried chicken, and other human food that tourists, residents, and hikers leave behind at picnic sites, in garbage cans, and in the back country.
Bears possess a keen sense of smell, but in the wild, they also have an instinctive fear of humans. "They don't just pop out of the woods one day and say hey, I want to be a nuisance," says Bill Stiver, a wildlife biologist with the National Park Service in the Smokies. First, they will seek out garbage near a human residence or campground at night or when people are not around.
The second step toward becoming habituated to people is when they approach people or their food in broad daylight. "They are pretty smart and soon learn there's more food available in the day than at night. When this occurs, they are bolder and more persistent," Stiver notes. The park service's aggressive management program aims to step in before this occurs, while bears are active at night.
Bad Bear Day
The TV cartoon character Yogi Bear, who persistently raided picnic sites in Yosemite National Park and made off gleefully with picnic baskets, is a prime example of a nuisance bear. But the easily outwitted Ranger Smith of the cartoon show has been supplanted by today's park managers, who take a two-pronged approach to minimizing human-bear encounters. The first line of defense is to keep food inaccessible to bears. This means managing garbage, but even more important, managing people. In spite of the National Park Service's intensive waste-disposal and education programs, people are careless with food disposal, or even worse, they deliberately feed panhandling bears.
Another option in dealing with nuisance bears is relocation, a much less successful strategy. One bear, for instance, broke out the window of a car in the parking lot of Clingmans Dome, located high in the Smokies. The park service gave that bear a second chance because the car window was partially open and groceries were visible inside.
"We concluded that this situation was similar to entrapment," says wildlife biologist Kim Delozier. That bear was relocated to North Carolina, but one day it walked into a private home-- right past the homeowner--into the kitchen, and raided the refrigerator.
Breaking into and entering cars is a behavior that is entrenched in the behavior of bears at Yosemite National Park and is passed from mother to cub. Such bold and dangerous behavior irrevocably seals the fate of problem bears, and wildlife managers in and near the Smokies are determined not to let the situation here deteriorate to that point, Delozier insists.
Bad News Bears
Since the 1960s, bear-proof garbage containers have been available throughout Great Smoky Mountains National Park, but in recent years the park service has stepped up efforts to keep trash from bears. In high-use areas, the park has replaced the 32-gallon trash cans, which often were overfilled, with larger, bear-proof dumpsters. It's tricky, however, designing a container that can foil a bear but not a person. "It's funny, a lot of people can't figure out how to get into them," Stiver says. "All you have to do is slide your finger in and push a lever."
Other recent changes include a modification in the work schedule of field personnel during summer months at three popular picnic areas. Stiver says maintenance staff is now working an evening schedule instead of 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Garbage is collected until the 8 p.m. closing time at picnic areas where nuisance bears have been documented in the past, such as Cades Cove, the Chimneys, and Collins Creek on the North Carolina side of the park. Stiver says on average one bear a year becomes incorrigible and must be destroyed. "One bear entered a tent that housed a 6-year-old girl and a loaf of bread," he says. Bears that have no fear of people are extremely dangerous.
Most bears are luckier, however. In 1999, park managers made 24 captures involving 16 individual bears. Eleven times they were released on site; 10 times they were relocated. Three repeat offenders were not so lucky and were ultimately destroyed. "We are aggressive about handling a nuisance animal," Stiver says.
The trick, he says, is to deal with bears that are active at night, before they have completely lost their natural fear of people. "To do that, we set a trap and capture, immobilize, and do a biological work-up on the animal," Stiver says. This process involves anesthetizing the bear, extracting a nonessential tooth, and ear-tagging or tattooing the bear. The workup is not painful or dangerous but is apparently unpleasant enough that most bears will, afterward, swear off people and their junk food. If the biological workup, termed "capture and release on site," is ineffective, the bear is normally relocated at least 40 air miles away.
In 1999, the National Park Service also installed cables for hanging food and packs at backcountry campsites and most shelters. Hikers can hoist their supplies 10 or more feet off the ground, safely out of reach of bears. Of course, campers must remember not to keep a midnight snack in their sleeping bags.
Territorial Disputes
The bear population in the park has steadily increased in the past decade thanks to better bear management in the Southeast, a decrease in poaching over the years, better techniques for estimating bear densities, and more reliable food sources, as mast-bearing trees such as oaks mature, Stiver says.
In 1999, the park's bear population rose to an estimated 1,800 while park visits steadily increased. In spite of these increases, law enforcement, education, and waste management have reduced human/bear encounters. In 1989, for example, the park service handled 100 cases of problem bears; in 1999, the number was down to 16.
"The hardest thing here is educating people," Stiver says. "When you have over 10 million visitors, and 90 percent are doing the right thing, you still could have a million doing the wrong thing." Great Smoky Mountains National Park, though it encompasses 800 square miles, is not, however, an island. If managers inside park boundaries have a clear mandate to protect wildlife as well as other natural resources, conflicting interests vie for jurisdiction outside the park. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA), which manages wildlife in the state outside federal preserves, sets the rules governing hunting game, including bears. According to TWRA rules, hunting is allowed throughout the state, and feeding bears is allowed. Baiting of bears by hunters is prohibited for only the 10 days prior to hunting season.
"We have no buffer area outside the park like we had 10 years ago," Delozier says. "Outside the park, it's legal to feed bears. When wild bears find garbage or food, their behavior changes, and they come back in the park and cause trouble." The National Park Service works closely with the town of Gatlinburg, TWRA, property owners' associations, and nonprofit organizations such as the Appalachian Bear Center, which rehabilitates injured or orphaned bears, to educate people in and around the park about the danger to bears from unsecured garbage and intentional feeding.
The ordinance recently passed by Gatlinburg's town council will take effect in June 2000, but it is as yet unclear how effective the law will be in changing people's behavior. Delozier says the park service would like to work with TWRA in the future to modify state regulations that allow people to feed bears.
In the meantime, the Park has created a multifaceted educational program that includes a new brochure; a "Garbage Kills Bears" bumper sticker; posters that can be hung in residential, commercial, and picnic areas; and a videotape that soon can be purchased at park visitor centers. The video explains black bear management and black bear biology and is aimed at park visitors, residents in outlying regions, and anyone with an interest in bears. The tape explains in detail why and how people should bear-proof their property. Essentially, Delozier insists, it's people's responsibility to behave responsibly in bear habitat in terms of managing food and garbage.
Delozier presented the park's multifaceted bear educational program at a bear/people conflicts workshop in Alberta, Canada, in April 1997.
Mammoth Headache
With few exceptions, state laws allow bear feeding, and few municipalities have taken the unpopular measure of passing ordinances requiring bear-proof containers. Mammoth Lakes, California, near Yosemite National Park, is an exception. Ten years ago, bears were so bold they would follow pedestrians down the street as they shopped or pushed their babies in strollers.
The community was concerned for the safety of people, but their decision was also driven by environmental concern for the bears. Mammoth Lakes' ordinance prohibits feeding bears and provides businesses with bear-proof garbage cans and drop-off collection receptacles. The number of municipalities that have passed similar ordinances, however, is exceedingly small, and they often must contend with state laws and overlapping jurisdictions.
Across the United States, as people encroach on natural areas and bear habitat shrinks, the national parks and surrounding communities are facing similar challenges to eliminate human-bear interactions. In all the areas Peine studied, he found human attitudes the most intractable obstacle to the survival and viability of bear populations, and removal of the temptation--garbage--the most successful management approach.
Peine's study illustrates the complex interface between humans and nature. "This is a problem that should be simple to fix compared with air pollution, invasive species, and human encroachment. The solution is so obvious it's a no-brainer," he says, "secure your garbage from bears."
Gatlinburg has taken big first steps towards solving this seemingly straightforward, but politically complex, issue. Yet at the regional level, the road ahead is long. "Gatlinburg represents only 5 percent of the boundary of the park," Peine notes. "But their commitment is a positive step and an encouraging precedent."
***
For more information contact John Peine, jpeine@utk.edu or call 865-974-4056.
CEB Researcher Receives Hispanic Heritage Award
Igrid Rosario Gregory, lab manager for the University of Tennessee's Center for Environmental Biotechnology (CEB), was one of six recipients of the 1999 Department of Energy's (DOE) Hispanic Heritage Awards for Achievement in Education. Gregory received the award at a ceremony at DOE headquarters in Washington, D.C., this past fall.
The ceremony, "A Vision for the 21st Century," recognized outstanding DOE employees and student interns. Gregory was recognized for her work in 1989 and 1990 with Anthony Palumbo, group leader for microbial interactions in the Environmental Sciences Division of DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). During her time at the lab, Gregory gained important hands-on experience with a variety of analytical equipment and put into practice techniques she had learned while in college.
Although she had always been drawn to the field of microbiotechnology, Gregory claims that she affirmed her career choice during her internship with DOE. "My work at DOE made me even more sure that the field of biotechnology was where I wanted to be," she says. "And I really feel I owe my current position at the University of Tennessee to the valuable experience I gained at the lab."
"Water is a living thing: it is life itself. In it life began." (Wilma Dykeman)
By Janice S. Clifford
In her 1955 book, The French Broad, author Wilma Dykeman describes the French Broad River, which flows north through four counties in both Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee, as "above all, a region of life; with all the richness and paradox of life." Dykeman-a strong advocate for the environment and a columnist for the Knoxville News Sentinel-pointed out recently that "much of [our] water is dangerously polluted. We can no longer take the treasure of our natural resources for granted."
Taking those natural resources for granted, or dismissing water pollution as someone else's problem, is easy if your present water source is clean. But, if you live downstream from a polluted water source, the problem is eventually yours as well.
Water is the "medium through which energy, elements, soil, and pollutants circulate in the biosphere," says Phillip Wallin, vice-president of River Network, a national river and watershed conservation organization based in Portland, Oregon, whose goal is to educate people about the importance of protecting and restoring watersheds.
River Network recently announced its selection of 22 grant recipients through the Watershed Assistance Grants (WAG) program, an initiative funded through the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). One of the major grants, valued at $25,000 for one year, was awarded to the Tennessee Clean Water Network (TCWN) for its Lower French Broad Watershed Recovery Program.
Currently, the lower French Broad Watershed is one of several watersheds in East Tennessee whose environmental health has been severely compromised by development and pollution. One of the major factors impacting the Lower French Broad Watershed is the rapid growth in population and urban development of the surrounding area. The watershed contains more than 500,000 acres of land in and adjacent to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which includes the rapidly expanding towns of Sevierville, Gatlinburg, and Pigeon Forge. Although agricultural runoff threatens both water quality and aquatic life, the rapid expansion of urban areas-which creates increased land development and demand for clean drinking water and strains aging sewage systems-translates into increased pollution in the streams of the Lower French Broad.
For instance, according to John West, a water quality specialist with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, older sewer systems, such as Gatlinburg's concrete system, built in the 1950s, are beginning to leak. Water quality is threatened by other problems-such as alteration of stream flow, agricultural runoff, erosion, and increased sedimentation-associated with increased land development.
Coming Together
Through the grant, TCWN seeks to increase the strength and effectiveness of river and watershed protection groups in the Lower French Broad Watershed. Laura Duncan-who serves as watershed coordinator for the TCWN, the University of Tennessee's Water Resources Research Center, and the Lower French Broad Watershed Recovery Program-believes that the French Broad project grant will provide individuals and communities of the French Broad watershed an opportunity to form "valuable partnerships with civic leaders, private water protection groups, industries, governmental agencies, and concerned citizens."
Duncan sees the TCWN's primary function as both mediator and interpreter. "Our major aim is to bring people together-regardless of their affiliation," Duncan says. Mediation is one of the ways through which TCWN plans to make these connections. According to Duncan, TCWN plans to "work as a mediator by identifying areas of agreement and disagreement between governmental agencies, industry, private organizations, and individuals."
Dean Rusk, Secretary of State during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, once said, "one of the best ways to persuade others is with your ears-by listening to them." Although everyone agrees that the safety of our water resources is important, there is frequent disagreement between private citizens and government or industry about what constitutes safe water. For instance, the Pigeon River, which is part of the French Broad watershed flowing out of North Carolina, has been the site of a struggle between industry and concerned citizens since 1908, when Champion International paper mill began operation in Canton, North Carolina.
Even in Champion's early days, Tennessee landowners downriver objected to the smell and discharge of chemicals into the stream. Historically, however, Champion has maintained that the pollution of the river was not as severe a problem as the economic impact that the plant's closure would bring to the area.
It has taken decades of protests from concerned citizens in both North Carolina and Tennessee to effect any change in Champion's pollution of the Pigeon River. Two organizations, the Pigeon River Action Group and the Dead Pigeon River Council, have been instrumental in effecting these changes. As a consequence, Champion has reduced the toxic load it releases into the Pigeon through a $250 million antipollution modernization plan. In addition, EPA has placed increased restrictions on Champion's discharge permits.
According to Duncan, in addition to mediation, TCWN will "act as an interpreter in breaking down the specialized technical language of experts into lay terms so that everyone in the watershed group can comprehend problems and work together to shape solutions." In order to keep communication going in both directions, Duncan says, "we will also identify specific concerns of the community and civic groups and communicate those back to the experts."
One of the areas of expertise not clearly understood by private citizens is the use of the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) tracking system used by the EPA to isolate and evaluate the types of pollutants affecting streams. TMDL is the highest amount of any pollutant that a single body of water can contain without violating the water quality standards set by the federal Clean Water Act. In the Lower French Broad watershed, these pollutants include heavy metals from mining, bacterial contamination from failing or inadequate sewage systems, increased sedimentation from land development and/or erosion, and increased nutrients from agricultural runoff. The TMDL program will require the state to identify not only the types of pollutants but also their sources and plans for their cleanup and prevention.
Fun in the Water
Safety of water resources within the Lower French Broad Watershed are concerns not only of residents but visitors as well. Because the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the most frequently visited park in the United States, is part of this watershed, tourism is one of the mainstays of the area's economy. Whitewater rafting, canoeing, fishing, and other water sports form the basis of many area businesses.
"Even businesses not directly concerned with water quality feel the negative impact of poor water quality on tourism," Duncan says. "Historically, the ripple effect of polluted waters has a great impact on tourism and an area's economy through public perception of overall water safety." This ripple effect could spread from the water recreation industry through such satellite services as the hotel and food industries as well.
Trusting Partnerships
TCWN recognizes the difficulty in gaining the trust of these different groups. Danielle Droitsch, TCWN executive director, says "The number-one challenge facing our group is earning trust. We want everyone to know that their interests are our interests."
Trust is a major issue in East Tennessee, which boasts a long history of land seizures by governmental agencies, among them the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), causing residents to look upon any group connected to the government with suspicion. For instance, in the mid-1920s, residents of the community of Cades Cove lost their homes through seizure by eminent domain as part of the formation of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
A few years later, TVA began seizing land for its program of hydroelectric dam construction. Once again, residents were forced off their lands through land seizure. In some cases, the property was not actually flooded but became valuable "lake front property," from which the original owners received no additional compensation.
Duncan's group, although nonprofit and not part of any governmental agency, recognizes the importance of overcoming this long-standing distrust for governmental agencies in bringing the people in the area together. "Seeking partnerships and forging bonds are important steps in gaining public trust," she says. "We are not, nor do we want to be perceived as, an enforcement group. We want to provide technical support, education, assistance, and moral support to new and forming watershed associations."
There are already several governmental and environmental groups involved in the interagency team working with TCWN. Among these are the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers (for help with flooding issues), the Great Smoky Mountains Regional Greenway Group, the University of Tennessee, the United States Geological Survey, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (for implementation of the TMDL process), and the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, as well as civic planners in Sevierville, Tennessee. Duncan, however, wants to generate more public interest by "cultivating relationships with schools, churches, fishers, paddlers, landowners, and any other interested groups or individuals."
Working and Learning Together
Education is an essential tool in the success of the French Broad project. Duncan is developing a series of workshops, videos, and presentations that will be available to any organization interested in learning more about watershed values, impacts, and protection or joining or establishing a watershed protection group. TCWN will also offer a handbook, which will present data on water pollution sources, their impacts, and possible solutions.
TCWN is co-hosting a workshop, "Using the Clean Water Act to Protect Your Watershed," April 7-9 with River Network and TVA. Agendas and registration forms for both the conference and the workshop are posted on the TCWN Web site (http://www.tcwn.org).
Our Problem, Our Survival
Duncan believes that "preserving our water resources should be of concern not only to those immediately affected by water pollution but to every citizen." Groups such as TCWN aim to increase that concern through education, guidance, and assistance.
***
For more information Contact Laura Duncan, WRRC, The University of Tennessee, 311 Conference Center Building, Knoxville, TN 37996-4134, or call 865-974-4884. You can visit the Tennessee Clean Water Network Web site at http://www.tcwn.org, via email at tcwn@tcwn.org, or by phone at 865-974-4884.
Microbes engineered at UT may help astronauts breathe a little easier in the tight enclosure of a space module.
By Janice S. Clifford
The launch of the first man into space was hailed as a milestone in human technological progress. Man, however, was not the first living creature to travel beyond the earth's gravity; monkeys and dogs ventured into the unknown before man. In the future, NASA will send yet another "critter" into space, though this tiny traveler will be mounted on a computer chip rather than strapped into a chair.
NASA's Office of Life and Microgravity Science and Applications has awarded 14 grants totaling approximately $6.5 million over four years for research in biology-inspired technologies as a part of a $12-million program. One of those grants was awarded to Gary Sayler, director of the University of Tennessee's Center for Environmental Biotechnology (CEB), CEB researcher Steven Ripp, and Michael Simpson, from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).
The researchers garnered the two-year, $755,000 grant for their work on Bioluminescent Bioreporter Integrated Circuits (BBICs), sensor devices built by combining bioluminscent organisms with tiny computer chips (See "Critters on a Chip," InSites Vol. 5, No. 4). These "critters on a chip," as they are called, can potentially detect the presence of chemical and organic hazards--including fungal and microbial contaminants--in the enclosure of a space module more quickly and efficiently than current air-quality sensor devices.
These sensing devices represent the convergence of two technologies being developed independently at CEB and ORNL. Prior to their collaboration, ORNL researcher Michael Simpson was building "chips," integrated circuits, with built-in light sensors. Meanwhile, at CEB, Sayler was working on genetically engineered bacteria that, when exposed to certain target substances, would emit light.
Simpson recalls that he saw the connection immediately: "We needed to put these two things together and make an instrument out of them," he says. By January 1997, Simpson and Sayler gave birth to their first litter of "critters." Originally, the BBICs had more down-to-Earth uses, from detecting contaminant leaks to cleaning up hazardous waste sites to analyzing the nutrients in agricultural soil.
Space Hazards
Living and working in space poses unique hazards, primarily because astronauts and researchers must operate in air-tight environments. According to Ripp, CEB's lead researcher on the NASA project, "the problems facing astronauts in space environments are similar to the 'sick building syndromes' of structures here on Earth that are too tightly sealed."
Sick building syndrome, the exposure of building occupants to a buildup of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), molds, and bacteria in a poorly ventilated space, can result in symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, headache, and, in extreme cases, death. The space environment, says Ripp, "compounds these risks with the additional problem of a totally contained system of recycled air." Sayler concurs: "Any time you put any sort of life form in such an enclosed environment, there will be the risk of opportunistic pathogens invading the space."
In the future, astronauts will live for prolonged periods in the International Space Station (ISS), and for that reason, NASA is more concerned than ever that astronauts and researchers operate in a safe, comfortable, and healthy environment. Ripp sees the bioluminescent organisms as efficient gauges for detecting those dangers.
ORNL's Simpson agrees. "The integrated circuits are small, low-powered, rugged, potentially wireless, and can be placed in areas other devices cannot," he says. "The bioreporters can be engineered to be very specific and sensitive to a particular substance likely to cause problems in a space module."
This sensitivity is vital in detecting the presence of VOCs before they cause symptoms in humans. Additionally, Sayler says "the low power requirements and small size of the chips are critical means for reducing both the bulk and weight of environmental sensor devices."
Longer Periods Aloft
Michael DeBakey, Chancellor Emeritus at Baylor College of Medicine, spoke to the House of Representatives in 1993 on the need to lengthen the time humans spend in space as a way of maximizing research output: "We do not limit medical researchers to only a few hours in the laboratory and expect cures for cancer," he said. "We need much longer missions in space--months to years--to obtain research results that may lead to the development of new knowledge and breakthroughs."
The ISS--a permanent international laboratory in space designed to develop and test new industrial materials, communications technologies, and medical research--is the answer to that need for longer missions. The ISS carries with it, however, greater risks of sick building syndrome than any enclosed environment on Earth, along with additional risks from radiation exposure.
Researchers aboard the ISS may have already experienced symptoms of sick building syndrome. Several NASA watchdog organizations, among them, NASA Watch, reported possible evidence of problems with the ISS environment. On the May-June 1999 shuttle mission to the ISS, several astronauts working inside the Russian-built control module Zarya suffered physical symptoms ranging from headaches to nausea, and some suspect that airborne contaminants might have caused the problem.
Although Ripp had not heard about any specific problems with the ISS environment from NASA, he wasn't surprised by the report. "The climate in any space environment is a breeding ground for fungal and microbial growth," he says. "Whether in the shuttle, Mir, or the ISS, you have a totally enclosed environment dependent on recycled air, as well as an extremely humid climate from condensation and other factors. Those conditions make it exactly the environment to produce mold and other microbial growth, all of which can adversely affect human health.
" This is where the BBICs are especially valuable. The BBICs provide almost instant detection of contaminants at minute levels. Because the chips emit light, they generate a visible and measurable indicator of trouble much in the same way canaries were used in the early days of coal mining. A canary was placed in a cage and taken into the shaft with the miners; if a miner saw a dead canary, he would know it was time to get out. Getting out, unfortunately, is not an option for space travelers, and so it is even more critical to detect air-borne contaminants as quickly as possible.
Critters Above and Below
Although the current project is specifically aimed at developing BBICs to detect fungal and microbial growth, Ripp hopes to expand the research in future NASA projects. "Chips could be developed to detect a wide range of chemical and organic substances that could pose hazards to humans," he says.
And there may be ample opportunity for employing the technology here on Earth as well. Indeed, many of the technologies developed for space have found their way into everyday use. Among them are Velcro, light-weight metals, and cordless tools. According to Ripp, the BBICs can be used in a variety of applications on terra firma, from air-quality monitoring in commercial or residential buildings to monitoring auto emissions. The BBICs could also be linked with triggering mechanisms that automatically turn on buildings' ventilation systems when contaminant levels exceed a preset limit.
***
For more information contact Gary Sayler, CEB, The University of Tennessee, 676 Dabney Hall, Knoxville, TN 37996-1605, or call 865-974-8080.
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Biotechnology and the Sustainable Future
From treating contaminated water to curbing global warming, biotechnology will be a key component of sustainable development in the new millennium. In January 2000, the magazine Vecteur Environnement, published in Quèbec, Canada, presented an in-depth interview on emerging research in environmental microbiology with microbiologist Gary Sayler, director of the Waste Management Research and Education Institute (WMREI) at the University of Tennessee (UT). Sayler also serves as director of UT's Center for Environmental Biotechnology.
"Sustainable development offers the best promise to meet the needs of the present generation without compromising our ability to meet the needs of future generations," Sayler says in the interview. But for the concept to gain wide credence in the business community, the economic advantages must be clearly understood.
Given current estimates of the oil supply in the Middle East, for example, alternative fuels may not be economically feasible for decades. However, some residential, commercial, and municipal sectors are already switching to green sources of energy. In the future, Sayler predicts, microorganisms and electrochemical cell technology will be used to create less-expensive, renewable sources of electricity. This will allow us to move away from finite and dirty sources of energy such as coal and oil.
Integrated management of carbon is another potentially important target for new biotechnologies Sayler has helped pioneer. For example, rather than regarding wastewater treatment as a cost of keeping pollutants out of streams and rivers, we can use genetically engineered microorganisms -to sequester the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, a byproduct of the treatment process. Less carbon dioxide in the air, more carbon available to produce energy, fewer resources expended to extract fossil fuels: It all adds up to significant savings. In the future, counting the costs of extraction, use, disposal, or recycling-or complete life-cycle analysis-will increasingly provide industry the incentive to invest in value-added products, Sayler tells Vecteur Environnement, a publication of Rèseau Environnement, a nonprofit organization that supports environmental expertise and activities in Quèbec.
Sayler's work is well-known north of the U.S. border, where he has consulted with the Biotech Research Institute of Canada on attempts to move biotechnology into the realm of sustainable development. As director of WMREI, a state of Tennessee Center of Excellence, Sayler has funneled millions of federal and private dollars into the university while helping to craft an international vision of a sustainable future for the 21st century.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS.
Jack Barkenbus, executive director of WMREI affiliate the Energy, Environment and Resources Center (EERC), Associate Director Lori Kincaid, Senior Research Associate Catherine Wilt, and UT faculty members Iain Clelland (Management) and Richard Jendrucko (Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Science) recently returned from Hong Kong, where they participated in the inaugural symposium on environmental management. This conference was part of a larger project co-directed by Wilt and Thomas Dean (formerly with UT, now with the University of Colorado-Boulder) linking U.S. faculty and staff with business and academic communities in Hong Kong. The project will provide environmental management training for Hong Kong Polytechnic University faculty and establish the Center for Environmental Management Education in Hong Kong.
PRESENTATIONS.
EERC Research Scientist Mary Swanson of EERC's Center for Clean Products and Clean Technologies (CCPCT), presented "Life-cycle Impact Assessment Methodology as Part of a Life-cycle Design Toolkit for the Automobile" at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Annual Meeting in Dallas. Swanson described CCPCT's life-cycle design toolkit and compared results from various life-cycle impact assessment (LCIA) methods. Swanson's presentation focused on impacts from gasoline production and its use in driving.
CONFERENCES.
EERC Senior Research Scientist David Feldman organized the Southeast Water Supply Roundtable held in Peachtree City, Georgia, in November. The forum served to identify the region's priority water needs and possible strategies for shaping a regional action plan that would maintain abundant and clean water in the Southeast. The Roundtable, which drew 120 state, local, and federal officials as well as environmental groups and industry representatives, was sponsored by the Appalachian Regional Commission, Southern States Energy Board, Tennessee Valley Authority, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region IV, The University of Tennessee, U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
Senior Research Scientist Jack Ranney co-organized the Southern Appalachian Man and the Biosphere (SAMAB) 10th anniversary conference, Community Solutions, held in Gatlinburg in November. Ranney received a service award for "outstanding sustained contributions" to the conference project. Research Leader Mary English presented "Building Communities by Building Smart Growth," and Ranney chaired a session on "Multiple Objectives for Greenways and Trails." In addition, Laura Duncan, a senior research assistant with EERC's Water Resources Research Center (WRRC), chaired a session on "Community Partnering for Watershed Solutions," for which WRRC Senior Research Assistant Ruth Anne Hanahan provided the wrap-up. Research Associate Karen Lorino organized a poster session.
