Microorganisms play an important role in the transformation of chemical compounds in our environment. I am interested in facilitating treatment of water and wastes using microorganisms. My research at the Colorado School of Mines has focused on microbial mediation removal of radionuclide and metals, waste treatment with an emphasis on nitrogen removal and most recently the application of molecular tools to bioprocesses. Microorganisms are capable of actively, passively and indirectly affecting the phase of radionuclides and metals in aqueous environments. Characterization of the all three mechanisms and the microbial community is important to the design of treatment systems to remove radionuclides and metal for solution.
Microbial transformations are important to global nitrogen cycling.
Biologically mediated nitrification and denitrification processes are widely used to control the discharge of nitrogen from wastewaters. Understanding the effect of operational parameters, wastewater composition and the microbial community is important in efficient removal of nitrogen from wastewaters. Classical measurements of biomass concentration, such as volatile solids, in wastewater processes fail to identify the functional constituents of the microbial population. Molecular techniques are available that can yield information on population density and in-situ activity and can be as specific or broad as needed. Selected Publications Spear, J.R., L.A. Figueroa, and B.D. Honeyman. 2000.