SGER: Are wastewater treatment plants islands?

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0630092CriddleThe objective of the proposed research is to organize and test a pilot-scale network for the study of the microbial island biogeography and diversity in wastewater treatment plant bioreactors. Initially, the proposed network will include research groups from universities in the United Kingdom, China, South Korea, and Stanford University, who will focus on an important category of microorganisms in wastewater treatment processes: ammonia oxidizers. The specific scientific goal of the study will be to determine the biogeographical and temporal variations in ammonia-oxidizing communities in nitrifying bioreactors and correlate these variations to operational and geographical factors. The standardized methods and quality-control procedures that the study will develop will be applicable to a range of bioreactors designed for different functions. The long-term goal of the project is to develop technical procedures that will allow expansion of the pilot-scale network into a global network of investigators linked by cyberinfrastructure to analyze microbial communities in wastewater treatment systems. Results from such networks should be useful to the broader community of treatment process scientists and engineers in improving bioreactor design and operation. Aside from using cutting-edge molecular tools in the research, in developing the collaborative network, the project will address several challenges at the forefront of information technology and cyberinfrastructure. The involvement by collaborators from other countries will promote international scientific collaboration, and the database developed in the project will be useful in formulating hypotheses about bioreactor community ecology. This proposal fits the criteria for an SGER in that it is an innovative idea and satisfies the high risk-high reward criterion. The PI is well qualified to conduct the proposed study and has conducted preliminary work, including the assembly of an impressive group of collaborators.