This course addresses the application of bioremediation as a remedial alternative at contaminated sites. This encompasses knowledge of the physical characteristics of the contaminant compounds and their fate in the environment, and the bacteria which are known to degrade or transform these compounds (and the environmental conditions necessary for the survival, growth, and activity of these bacteria). In addition, the current methods used to enhance or support in-situ biodegradation and monitor remediation efforts are highlighted. At the end of the course, the students should have a basic understanding of the types of contaminants and sites for which bioremediation might offer an effective remediation alternative.

The objectives of the course are:

• To highlight and review the critical physical and chemical characteristics of contaminants that affects their biodegradability.
• To describe the current knowledge regarding microorganisms capable of degrading or transforming contaminants, and the environmental factors necessary for the growth and activity of these bacteria.
• To discuss current methods for measuring site contamination and monitoring the progress of bioremediation activities at the site.
• To present methods to enhance in-situ biodegradation, including design.
• To highlight technical impracticability of some clean-up goals and/or areas where bioremediation is not a viable remedial alternative.

There are no formal pre-requisite courses for the class. However, a large diversity of background information will be useful. Information on the following topics (& courses) will provide a solid foundation for this course:

• microbiology (such as CVEN 5484 taught by Dr. Hernandez Fall)
• organic chemistry (such as CVEN 5834 taught by Dr. Ryan Spring)
• groundwater hydrology (such as CVEN 5353 taught in Fall)

If you have some general background on these subjects from undergraduate work (even CVEN 3414) or are taking the classes as a co-requisite, you should be fine. In addition, information on hazardous waste (CVEN 4474/5474) will be included in this course, so if you are already familiar with these topics you will be “ahead”. Most students do not generally have background knowledge in all of these areas, but still have successfully completed this course.

There isn't a good text currently available that covers the range of topics in this course. Therefore, most of the detailed information you will need on particular topics is available in the "course notes" which I have written. These will be provided as a set of bound course "notes" (~100-200 pgs) at the beginning of the semester. A fee of $10-$20 will be charged to cover the costs associated with copying and binding these notes. In addition, throughout the course, weblinks to US EPA publications and literature articles emailed to provide information on specific topics. It will be helpful to have read the materials associated with the lecture prior to class. General background information is also available in various textbooks, such as: Eweis et al. Bioremediation Principles, published by McGraw-Hill; Rittman and McCarty Environmental Biotechnology, published by McGraw-Hill.

There will be six to eight homework assignments given during the semester. These are intended to be challenging. It is probably a good idea to start the problems as soon as you get them, then you will have plenty of time to ask questions in class or in my office hours. The first homework covers necessary "foundation" material for the course. Depending on your background, much of this material may already be familiar. Successful completion of this assignment will demonstrate that you have a solid foundation to get the most out of the rest of the course. The later homework assignments allow you to apply the information covered in the class readings and lectures. Homework sets must be turned in at the beginning of class on the due date.

For all homework assignments, you are encouraged to first try to work the problems on your own. Then, work with your peers. Some of the homework questions will be fairly straight-forward, while others are "advanced" and require you to move beyond materials that have been presented and process information in a critical way. In addition, for many problems there will not be a single correct answer, so your logical reasoning process is the important part. Particularly for the advanced problems, discussion with your peers may be the best way to arrive at a "solution". In addition, I am available to help you. I encourage to stop by or send e-mail. In particular, if you are uncertain what the problems are really asking for, ask me!

Please write your homework solutions up in a professional and legible format. As needed, output from computer models and/or spreadsheets may be included.

Each student will critically review one current technical journal article on one of the "special topics" listed below. This includes both a written and oral discussion. Two weeks before your presentation date, please submit your article to me. The day of your oral presentation, you will submit a 10 to 12 page literature review of the topic, and a summary and written critique of the article. Cite a minimum of 4 other related journal articles, discussing agreement, disagreement, or extension of the work. (The articles cited at the end of the paper that you are reviewing is one way to locate pertinent related work.) You will present the article during class and help lead a class discussion. During the "journal days", each person will spend about 20 minutes presenting their article, followed by a 15-minute class discussion on the article.

The entire class will be given each article 1 week prior to the presentation, and come ready to discuss it. Everyone in the class will submit a minimum of two written questions or critiques of each article.

For the journal article reviews, you will be graded on:

• your written report (10 to 12 page literature review and critique) (250 pts)
• your oral presentation in class – includes presentation style, visual aids, summary content, and critiques (100 pts)
• your contributions to the in-class discussions and written submissions of questions on each journal article that is not your own (10 pts per article)

Topics for the Journal articles will be:

• Explosives bioremediation
• Pesticides bioremediation
• In situ bioremediation
• Microbial transformation of inorganics
• Phytoremediation
• Genetically-engineered microbes / bioaugmentation

On some dates there will be two presentations on the same day, and each person will get a different article on the same general topic area (of those listed above). During the second week of class, I’ll pass out a sign-up sheet for you to specify your preferred topic. Topics listed above will be presented in order in the journal days noted in the schedule. Remember to submit your selected article at least 3 weeks prior to your presentation date. The list at the end of the syllabus recommends journals for articles. Select an article more recent than Jan. 2006.

Your grade for the course will be calculated on the basis of your total points earned on the following activities:

• 45% Homeworks
• 30% Journal Papers
• 25% FINAL EXAM (comprehensive)