This proposal addresses the problem of bioremediation of sediments, of immense importance to the government (especially the EPA) and industry. The proposed effort will involve: research on the development of appropriate technology and the associated technology transfer; student and faculty participation in the research and course development; and presentation of obtained results at conferences and in refereed journals.

The proposed collaborative research is a novel effort that will combine the experience and expertise of the Environmental Engineering research groups at Rice University and the Department of Civil Engineering at PVAMU.

The collaboration with Rice University will include at least one yearly research meeting of all faculty involved in the program at PVAMU campus to exchange ideas, and to evaluate progress of the research. In addition, faculty from each campus will give yearly seminars on their research at the other campuses of the Alliance. Graduate students in the research projects from PVAMU will be encouraged to spend one or more semesters at the Rice University campus.

The Alliance will be involved in the following activities:

• Enhance existing curriculum in Environmental Engineering at PVAMU and HSRC issues.
• Advise undergraduate and graduate students in senior projects, and Masters and Ph.D theses in relevant subjects.
• Expand existing visiting scientist/visiting professor program to include experts on issues relating to, pollutant-sediment interaction and transport; from government, national laboratories and industry.
• Conduct summer programs/workshops for high school students and teachers as part of existing ESCI, MITE, etc. programs.
• Establish a hands-on laboratory for design and simulations.

Training Potential: The proposed effort will involve students -- graduate and undergraduate -- from the Civil Engineering and Environmental Disciplines. PVAMU is predominately African American in student population. Recruiting of students will be done from this pool and the pool of other minority students on the PVAMU campus and the Alliance.

As can be seen from the brief statement of work and it should be clear from the final proposal (if requested to submit) the goals of the current proposed effort in bioremediation are in line with those of the EPA. In addition to accessing available resources and expertise from the PVAMU-Rice Alliance, the PIs will be approaching EPA and other possible sources of support that will help sustain this research in the future.

The research and other activities conducted in this program will be immensely beneficial. In addition to the benefits mentioned above, the results would provide a way for the transfer of technology from the laboratories at PVAMU and Rice to the EPA and industry.