9702165 Hernandez While much research effort is already directed at characterizing aquatic and terrestrial microbial processes, relatively little work has approached microbiological aspects of air pollution from an engineering perspective. Rapid, quantitative, microscopic aerosol assays will be used to characterize the viability, identity and distribution of bacteria and fungi suspended in indoor air. Using direct epi-fluorescent microscopy, the goal of this work is to accurately characterize the airborne concentrations of cellular and sub-cellular microbial components prevalent in commercial and residential aerosols. The work will focus on both laboratory chamber studies and field measurements to determine the biostability of airborne microorganisms commonly encountered indoors. Biostability is defined here as the ability of microorganisms to retain their metabolic capabilities and their physical integrity; it does not constitute the ability to be isolated or quantified by culture. The overall goal of this project is to expand and improve the research and teaching of microbiology germane to modern civil and environmental engineering practice. As an educational goal, a new coursework series on applied environmental microbiology is being developed for permanent integration into the civil/environmental engineering curricula at the University of Colorado. This series will consist of a total of four undergraduate and graduate level courses, including associated laboratories. The courses will be structured according to a novel, problem-based cooperative learning format and taught in a brand new, state-of-the-art engineering facility specifically designed to combine computer aided, multi-media presentation with classroom instruction (Integrated Teaching and Learning Laboratory (ITLL)). The undergraduate level courses will provide fundamentals needed to und erstand microbial processes and ecology in engineered systems. The graduate level courses will analyze environmental microbiology applications emphasizing the interface between modem molecular biology and civil, sanitary, geotechnical, and atmospheric engineering. The applications courses will intensively examine the microbiology of domestic water supply, wastewater treatment, aquifer/soil bioremediation, biofouling, industrial corrosion, and air pollution. The courses have a dual purpose: they are designed to prepare practicing civil engineers and other environmental scientists with a working knowledge of applied microbiology, as well as provide a coursework, laboratory and literature foundation for research oriented students. Results from this work may have several important implications for understanding human exposure to airborne microorganisms while expanding environmental engineering curricula to include the atmospheric environment as a biosphere. The projected benefits of this work stem from the development of a robust microscopic technique capable of stringent microbial characterization with relatively minor modifications to commonly used, inexpensive sampling equipment. Direct microscopic measurements have been widely adopted in water treatment engineering and health sciences as they provide a superior basis for process evaluations and epidemiological studies. These visual techniques provide absolute measurements that offer a more accurate picture of bioaerosols than their enrichment based counterparts as nutritional selection and culturabihty do not bias the results. Applications of direct aerosol microscopy include a reliable means to evaluate the effectiveness of engineered rnitigation methods to help control common microorganisms and/or their fragments present in indoor aerosols. Using widely accepted fluorescent biological s tains and fluorescent genetic probes, the technique will also be applied to determine the ecological structure of bioaerosols and the presence and activity of a wide range of pathogens. The project will directly integrate bioaerosol research into new environmental engineering microbiology courses as well as into courses offered in mechanical engineering and public health. This project will serve to pilot the new arm in its service as a "building as laboratory" function for teaching applied environmental microbiology in a civil and environmental engineering context. ***
