INLAND NORTHWEST RESEARCH ALLIANCE NEWS CONFERENCE
TOPIC: INRA GRANTS FUND RESEARCH PROJECTS AT UI, WSU
DATE/TIME:
Monday, Oct. 2, 10 a.m. at Moscow, 11:30 a.m. at Pullman
LOCATIONS:
University of Idaho: Food Research Center Conference Room, Corner of Idaho
Ave. and Line St.
Washington State University: Dana Hall, Room 221
University of Idaho President Bob Hoover, who helped establish INRA and
serves as president of the seven-university research alliance, and UI
researchers will be available at a news conference Monday, Oct. 2, to discuss
cooperative research projects. The alliance is a partner with Bechtel BWXT
Idaho in the management of the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental
Laboratory and has funded two UI research efforts.
One UI project will survey Idaho residents about their views on public policies
intended to protect groundwater or clean up contaminated underground water
supplies. This project will help scientists understand public attitudes and
perceptions as they develop solutions to current challenges. The other project
will evaluate the chemical and physical factors that control microbial
communities in nature to advance our use of these communities to perform
useful work. One goal would be to use bacteria to clean up contaminated
groundwater.
The four WSU projects will study various aspects of subsoil and water
characterization and cleanup issues. Investigators from two of the projects will
be available on the Pullman campus to discuss their work and provide visual
demonstrations. One of the projects will look into potential bioremediation
methods for cleaning solvents and degreasers in groundwater. The other
project is aimed at determining the characteristics of subsoil contamination of
radioactive elements.
UI researchers will be available for questions at the Moscow event.
In coordination with the INRA event, the new UI Molecular Ecology and
Genomics Laboratory funded by UI and INEEL will be available for a tour. The
new laboratory on the Moscow campus gives researchers the ability to scan
thousands of DNA samples simultaneously and characterize unknown samples
by matching them with known DNA sequences. The laboratory integrates
environmental engineering and molecular biology to attach environmental
problems. Ronald L. Crawford, UI Environmental Biotechnology Institute
director, oversees the new lab and will be present for the tour.
More information about the news conference and other events is available
from Kathy Barnard, University Communications and Marketing at
208/885-6291, Bill Loftus, Agricultural Communications at 208/885-7694, or
Hugh Imhof, WSU News Bureau, 509/335-4528.
hi198-00
