CAREER: A Career Development Plan to Expand the Integration of Novel Molecular Techniques and Design Experiences into Environmental Engineering Research and Teaching

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Raskin 9733826 This is an award to support a project proposed in accord with the Guidelines for Submission of Proposals to the Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program, NSF 97-87. As such, this project has both a research and educational component. Her research component is based on a continuation of work initiated under NSF Grant No. 94-10476. It was aimed obtaining a better understanding than now exists of the causes of foaming and bulking problems associated with wastewater treatment by use of suspended growth bioreactors as a step toward exercising control of these problems. Her new research objectives are to expand her study of the role played by filamentous bacteria responsible for causing these problems, optimize and validate procedures for their detection and identification, and to apply nucleic acid probes and molecular beacons in reactor studies to develop rational control measures for foaming and bulking. The Principal Investigator's educational component includes improvement of existing courses dealing with water quality and collaboration with Carollo Engineers, a consulting engineering firm, to improve the design content of an undergraduate, senior level course in water quality control. Her education plan includes integration of dynamic mathematical models, results of her research and a relevant field experience into her graduate- level course. She also plans on development of a workshop/graduate level laboratory course that reflects the increasing importance of molecular biology procedures and their application in environmental engineering practice. Her plan is to maintain strong contacts with several other environmental engineering consulting firms, biotechnology and food processing industries and municipalities for guidance in curriculum development applicable to strengthening her research and teaching activities. ***