A Microtox bioassay system is being requested to allow the Environmental Engineering programs at Pennsylvania State Harrisburg (PSH) to implement a new course in Environmental Toxicology (ENVE 497A). This is a new development in undergraduate education both for PSH and for undergraduate environmental engineering programs throughout the nation which traditionally do not offer this type of course at the undergraduate level. The combined lecture and laboratory course allows PSH to offer courses in all areas of Risk Assessment (RA). Recently, RA has emerged as the organizing framework for environmental engineering, management, and regulation. In addition, the course will provide undergraduate students with hands-on experience in both whole effluent toxicity testing and toxicity reduction evaluations, essential tools in the control and abatement of pollution. The inclusion of an Environmental Toxicology course in our curriculum, to be offered as both a traditional course and as a short-workshop series for continuing education, will greatly enhance the ability of our students to meet the expanding needs of the environmental profession. The Microtox system also will allow the Environmental Engineering program at PSH to initiate an integrated collaborative research program involving our students, undergraduates at Dickinson College (a liberal arts college in Central Pennsylvania) and an active citizen's environmental action group. This collaboration, focusing on storm-water impacts on receiving streams, will provide interdisciplinary research experience to the involved participants and will serve as a model for the establishment of similar programs in other educational institutions.
