CAREER: Microbial Geochemistry of Natural Marine Gas Seeps - A Research and Education Plan

在这个职业项目中，加州大学圣巴巴拉分校的一名研究人员将进行一项综合研究和教育计划，重点关注甲烷自然渗入海洋环境的命运，这是一个与环境和经济相关的问题。主要研究目标是确定微生物甲烷氧化对活跃气体渗漏区沉积物到海洋/大气的甲烷通量的影响。这项研究将结合现场和实验室研究，对位于UCSB园区近海的三个天然气渗漏环境进行研究，深度从10米到300米不等。主要的研究目标将通过量化来自沉积物的净气体通量以及沉积物中微生物甲烷氧化的净速率，并比较三个研究地点每个过程的相对重要性来实现。这项建议进一步寻求将拟议的研究与研究生、本科生和K-12阶段的教育活动相结合。拟议项目的教育目标是：(1)培养研究生(博士和硕士)。这些活动包括：(1)让学生参与微生物学和地球化学的综合研究；(2)通过为期一年的研究项目，并通过将成果纳入普通教育课程，培养本科生在海洋科学方面的知识；(3)通过正式的实地考察课程，将本科生纳入拟议的邮轮活动，使他们成为海洋研究的积极参与者；以及(4)通过参加UCSB的浮动实验室推广计划，向K-12年级的学生和教师介绍海洋碳氢化合物主题。该项目的这些教育目标将通过将研究生和本科生纳入研究项目的每个阶段，将成果纳入普通教育课程，以及通过每年将大约1000名K-12学生带入当地SEEP领域的外联活动来实现。UCSB近海巨大的天然气渗漏为职业项目提供了理想的天然实验室。渗漏在校园内随处可见，它们激发了学生的好奇心，它们对环境产生了切实的影响，潜在的微生物过程很重要，但人们对其了解很少。广泛的影响：该项目承诺为全球甲烷生物地球化学循环提供基础知识，为研究生提供海洋科学化学和生物学方面的跨学科培训，为本科生提供海洋科学领域的教育机会，并通过外联活动教育K-12学生和教师。此外，这项研究有可能揭示各种新的微生物和微生物活动，在生物修复领域具有潜在的应用，并可能导致发现新的加州近海天然气渗漏环境。

ABSTRACTValentine / OCE-0447395In this CAREER project, a researcher at the University of California at Santa Barbara will conduct an integrated research and education program focusing on the fate of methane seeping naturally into the marine environment, an issue of environmental and economic relevance. The primary research goal is to determine the impact of microbial methane oxidation on the flux of methane from the sediments to the ocean/atmosphere in areas of active gas seepage. The research will involve a combination of field and laboratory studies of three gas seep environments located offshore the UCSB campus, at depths ranging from 10m to 300m. The primary research goal will be achieved by quantifying both the net gas flux emanating from the sediment as well as the net rate of microbial methane oxidation within the sediment, and comparing the relative importance of each process across the three study sites. This proposal further seeks to integrate the proposed research with educational activities at the graduate, undergraduate, and K-12 levels.The educational goals of the proposed project are: (1) to train graduate (Ph.D. & M.S.) students in the integrated study of microbiology and geochemistry; (2) to educate undergraduate students in the marine sciences through year-long research projects, and through incorporation of results into general education courses; (3) to incorporate undergraduate students into ocean going research by including them as active participants in proposed cruises through a formal field studies course; and (4) to introduce K-12 students and teachers to the topic of marine hydrocarbons through participation in UCSB's Floating Lab outreach program. These educational goals of this project will be achieved by incorporating graduate and undergraduate students into every stage of the research project, by incorporating results into general education courses, and through outreach activities that will bring approximately one thousand K-12 students to local seep fields annually. The massive gas seeps offshore UCSB provide an ideal natural laboratory for a CAREER project. Seeps are readily accessible from the campus, they engender curiosity in students, they have a tangible environmental impact, and the underlying microbial processes are important yet poorly understood.Broader Impacts: This project promises to contribute fundamental knowledge to the global biogeochemical cycle of methane, to provide interdisciplinary training for graduate students in chemical and biological aspects of ocean science, to provide educational opportunities for undergraduate students in the area of marine science, and to educate K-12 students and teachers through outreach activities. Furthermore, this research has the potential to reveal a variety of novel microbes and microbial activities, has potential applications in the field of bioremediation, and may lead to the discovery of new gas seep environments offshore California.