CEE 200 Seminar: Exploiting Nature’s Blueprint for Bioremediation: Challenges and Opportunities

Speaker: Professor Frank Loeffler
Affiliation: University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory

UCLA Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

CEE 200: Environmental Engineering and Hydrology & Water Resources

 

Exploiting Nature’s Blueprint for Bioremediation: Challenges and Opportunities

 

Dr. Frank E. Löffler

University of Tennessee, Knoxville and Oak Ridge National Laboratory

 

Abstract:  Legacy sites and emerging contaminants continue to impact environmental quality and human health. Cultivation and omics approaches have substantially advanced understanding of the microbiology involved in contaminant transformation and detoxification, and microbial remedies are promising and affordable solutions to tackle pressing environmental problems. Such progress is exemplified by the discovery of organohalide-respiring bacteria, in particular Dehalococcoides mccartyi, which has transformed remediation practice at sites impacted with chlorinated solvents. Despite documented successes, challenges remain and commonly observed stalled dechlorination in situ activity requires solutions. Integrated data assessments at sites where bioremediation does or does not deliver desirable outcomes provided a blueprint for formulating and testing hypotheses about specific requirements for productive site management. These efforts demonstrated the supporting role of the microbial community for sustained activity of the keystone degraders (i.e., Dehalococcoides mccartyi), and emphasize the value of systems biology approaches to advance bioremediation from a relatively empirical practice to a science-enabled technology with predictable outcomes.

 

Biography:  Professor Frank Loeffler received M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Microbiology in Germany.  He was awarded an Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation fellowship to conduct postdoctoral research at Michigan State University.  Dr. Loeffler was a faculty member in the School of Civil & Environmental Engineering at the Georgia Tech from 1999 to 2010.  Presently, he is a Governor’s Chair Professor at the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory with appointments in the Departments of Microbiology and Civil & Environmental Engineering, and ORNL’s Biosciences Division.  Since 2016, he directs the Center for Environmental Biotechnology at the University of Tennessee.  He has received NSF CAREER award, several SERDP-ESTCP Project of the Year awards, Shimizu Visiting Professorship at Stanford University and is an elected Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology.  Dr. Löffler and his group conduct fundamental research to better understand, control and manipulate microbiomes involved in carbon cycling, nitrogen turnover, and biodegradation of contaminants in natural and engineered systems.

 

Tuesday, November 12, 2019, 12:00 – 12:50 PM

CS 24 Young Hall

Date/Time:
Date(s) - Nov 12, 2019
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Location:
Young Hall CS24
CS24 Young Hall Los Angeles CA 90095