Adaption and implementation of a water quality curriculum

美国西南部面临的最重要的环境问题之一是水的可用性和质量。因此，水处理是一项日益重要的技术，处于环境微生物学的前沿。为了让微生物学本科学生更好地面对这一挑战，本项目在环境微生物学实验课程中调整并实施了新的水质课程。此外，该项目还邀请亚利桑那州北部的高中和社区大学学生参加水质实验室练习。智力优势：新的实验室课程侧重于水质微生物学，将附近的里约热内卢De Flag水回收设施的实地经验与当前的分子和功能实验室方法联系起来。学生从该设施获取处理过和未处理过的水样，以评估病毒丰度、粪便大肠菌群数量和有机污染物的存在。然后，学生们丰富污染物降解生物，并从处理设施样本中分离、表征和测序污染物降解生物。学生团队还设计、实施和展示实验，重点是利用设施中的样本去除大肠菌群或污染物。更广泛的影响：该项目的目标受众是在亚利桑那州北部，包括弗拉格斯塔夫的本科生，佛得谷Yavapai社区学院的社区大学生（该学院为纳瓦霍和霍皮部落成员提供大量人口）和纳瓦霍保留地两所高中的学生。本科生中有相当数量的少数民族学生，包括印第安人学生。与里约热内卢De Flag水回收设施的合作加强了大学与社区之间的联系，并为本科生提供了了解环境微生物学在关键应用中的作用的机会。

Life Science - Biological (61)One of the most important environmental issues facing the Southwestern U.S. is the availability and quality of water. Water treatment is therefore an increasingly important technology at the forefront of environmental microbiology. To better prepare undergraduate microbiology students to face this challenge, this project adapts and implements a new water quality curriculum in an environmental microbiology laboratory course. In addition, the project engages high school and community college students from around Northern Arizona in water quality laboratory exercises. Intellectual Merit: The new laboratory curriculum, focused on water quality microbiology, links field experiences at the nearby Rio De Flag Water Reclamation Facility with current molecular and functional laboratory approaches. Students acquire treated and untreated water samples from this facility for assessment of viral abundance, fecal coliform counts and the presence of organic pollutants. Students then enrich for contaminant-degrading organisms and isolate, characterize and sequence a contaminant-degrading organism from treatment facility samples. Student teams also design, conduct, and present experiments focused on removal of coliform bacteria or pollutants using samples from the facility. Broader Impacts: The project's target audience is in Northern Arizona and is composed of undergraduate students in Flagstaff, community college students at Yavapai Community College, Verde Valley (which serves a substantial population of Navajo and Hopi tribal members) and students at two high schools on the Navajo reservation. The undergraduate students include substantial numbers of ethnic minority students, including Native American students. The collaboration with the Rio De Flag Water Reclamation Facility strengthens ties between the university and the community and provides opportunities for undergraduates to understand the role of environmental microbiology in a critical application.