Research Initiation Award: Integrated Approach Toward Examining Fecal Indicator Bacteria Trends in a Coastal Watershed

研究启动奖：检查沿海流域粪便指示细菌趋势的综合方法

• 批准号: 2300319
• 负责人: Nikaela Flournoy
• 金额: $ 30万
• 依托单位: Miles College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-10-01 至 2026-09-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2300319&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Research; Initiation; Award; Integrated; Approach

The Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP) through Research Initiation Awards provide support for junior and mid-career faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities who are building new research programs or redirecting and rebuilding existing research programs. It is expected that the award helps to further the faculty member's research capability and effectiveness and improve research and teaching at the home institution. This award to Miles College supports faculty and undergraduate research experiences examining potential sources and environmental factors that regulate fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) patterns in surface water. Specifically, using a combination of innovative approaches, this proposal aims to monitor fecal pollution inputs to surface waters and study the efficacy of integrating fecal markers from Microbial Source Tracking (MST) into current and machine learning-based watershed models, to predict trends of FIB in surface water.The overall project goal is to predict the occurrence of FIB exceeding total maximum daily load (TMDL) in shellfish growing waters. Toward this goal, this project aims to integrate MST data, 16S rRNA sequences, and environmental parameters into existing and next generation watershed models. Tools and data generated from this project will: (i) contribute to water quality knowledge and baseline data on sources of FIB in a coastal Alabama watershed, (ii) validate use of alternative indicator methods, such as MST tracking and amplicon sequencing, for water quality monitoring in existing watershed models, and (iii) identify scalable watershed modelling framework(s) conducive for MST data to predict source-specific FIB in different environmental conditions. Outcomes from this project will provide improvements in predicting patterns of FIB, a valued water quality index. Implementation of this project would extend the STEM education and research capacity of the PI and institution, increase on-campus research training opportunities for enrolled students, and cultivate a partnership with the United States Geological Survey Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

历史黑人学院和大学本科项目 (HBCU-UP) 通过研究启动奖为历史黑人学院和大学的初级和中期教师提供支持，他们正在建立新的研究项目或重新调整和重建现有的研究项目。预计该奖项有助于提高教师的研究能力和效率，并改善所在机构的研究和教学。该奖项授予迈尔斯学院，支持教师和本科生研究调节地表水中粪便指示菌 (FIB) 模式的潜在来源和环境因素的研究经验。具体来说，该提案旨在结合创新方法，监测对地表水的粪便污染输入，并研究将微生物源跟踪 (MST) 中的粪便标记整合到当前基于机器学习的流域模型中的有效性，以预测 FIB 的趋势总体项目目标是预测贝类生长水域中超过最大日总负荷 (TMDL) 的 FIB 的发生情况。为了实现这一目标，该项目旨在将 MST 数据、16S rRNA 序列和环境参数集成到现有和下一代流域模型中。该项目生成的工具和数据将：(i) 为阿拉巴马州沿海流域的 FIB 来源提供水质知识和基线数据，(ii) 验证替代指标方法的使用，例如 MST 跟踪和扩增子测序。现有流域模型中的质量监测，以及 (iii) 确定有利于 MST 数据预测不同环境条件下特定源 FIB 的可扩展流域建模框架。该项目的成果将改进 FIB（一种有价值的水质指数）模式的预测。该项目的实施将扩展 PI 和机构的 STEM 教育和研究能力，增加在校学生的校园研究培训机会，并与美国地质调查局密西西比河下游-海湾水科学中心建立合作伙伴关系。该奖项反映了通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，NSF 的法定使命被认为值得支持。