Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

This Research and Tools proposal describes equipment required to replace an obsolete anaerobic glove box/cabinet at Ryerson. The decommissioned cabinet has been the only anaerobic system on campus and the unavailability of such system directly affects existing research projects and support for applied and environmental microbiology; a major area of activity in the biological sciences at Ryerson. For example, the anaerobic cabinet will be the core equipment for graduate students associated with the Canada Chair in Environmental Interfaces and Biofilms who will study anaerobic cellulolytic bacteria as part of an existing research collaboration. This project is partly funded by industry with the overall goal of technology development enabling cost effective bioconversion of cellulosic biomass such as grass and wood for ethanol production. Another student and postdoctoral fellow are involved in a collaboration focusing on microbial-contaminant (nonaqueous phase liquids, NAPL) interactions in aquifers. Anaerobic facilities are needed for that project to study biofilm development and microbial community behavior in model systems that simulate the conditions in groundwater and subsurface environments. Students associated with the research on microbial flocs and structures in engineered systems require anaerobic facilities to study biofilm development as part of industry-funded and NSERC Strategic Grant projects that focus on the development of anaerobic membrane bioreactors to be applied to wastewater and solids treatment for energy production. The Department of Chemistry & Biology experienced notable growth in environmental sciences, including two recent appointments (2006 and 2007) in environmental microbiology, as well as the new Molecular Sciences graduate program introduced in fall 2006. Thus, there is an immediate need to upgrade our anaerobic culture equipment to support our current research program and the needs of new faculty.