9702361 Smets This is an award to provide support for research on appropriate use of natural attenuation to develop biologically-based technologies for removal of hazardous substances from soil that is contaminated with these substances. The research is based on a hypothesis that the exchange and rearrangement of horizontally transmissible genetic material is a major contributor to the short-term adaptation of existing microbial communities in soil and that characterization of the transfer process in the presence of stress can provide insights that can be applied to engineering design of systems for decontamination of soil. This award also provides support for the continuation of this investigator's early development as an educator. His education plan involves addressing the engineering profession's demands for engineers who couple a significant technical base of knowledge with an ability for synthesis and cross-disciplinary integration. The proposal leading to this award was submitted in response to NSF 96-115, "Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program." Quantitative knowledge of how microbial communities adapt to contaminant stress can assist in the engineering design of systems and procedures to exploit the capability of naturally occurring communities of organisms to removal of contaminants from soil and contaminated aquifers. ***
