Engineering of complex adaptive microbial ecosystems

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An ecosystem is a community of organisms that interact with each other and with their surroundings. Given an adequate understanding of these interactive processes, ecosystems can be created and managed to provide specific services. Some microbial ecosystems, for instance, provide useful services such as composting, and agricultural ecosystems are managed to provide food. Ecosystems that are engineered to incorporate natural processes are more sustainable because they are driven more by renewable inputs such as sunlight, and therefore depend less on nonrenewable inputs such as fossil fuels. The dynamics of natural ecosystems are extremely complex, however, and so the application of ecological theory to engineer ecosystems for specific purposes is still rudimentary. In this research, microbial ecosystems will be constructed in the form of pilot-scale compost vessels. The vessels will be instrumented to allow automated measurement of process parameters such as temperature, airflow, relative humidity, and the composition of inlet and exhaust gases. A computer interface will allow this information to be used in the development of advanced numerical models of the interrelated physical, chemical, and microbial aspects of the composting process. Finally, a feedback control system will use these models to control the process parameters and optimize the system for specific goals, such as reduced noxious or greenhouse gas emissions or increased processing rate. The ultimate objective in this research program is to use these pilot-scale systems to test ecological hypotheses, and to learn how to better apply ecological theory in the engineering of systems that include living organisms. The students that work on this research will become highly skilled in the real-time characterization, modeling, and control of microbial ecosystems. The knowledge that they gain will also be applicable to the understanding and engineering of other kinds of ecological systems, improving the sustainability of ecosystems of all scales that provide critical services to society, such as the production of food, fibre, and energy, and the cleansing of water and air.