SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
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Enhancing polyhydroxyalkanoate biosynthesis in Escherichia coli: A genetic engineering and process optimization approach towards functionalized polymeric nanomedicine
Full text linkRecombinant Escherichia coli is a desirable bacterial chassis for the biosynthesis of many biological compounds including poly(3-hydroxyalkanoates) (PHAs), a class of naturally occurring biodegradable polyesters with promising biomedical and material applications. PHAs are very structurally diverse, and control over their composition allows the production of unique materials with tunable physical and chemical properties. The major limitation to widespread use of PHAs is their high cost and low volumetric productivity, particularly for a desirable class of PHAs with medium chain-length (MCL) side chains. In this work, transcriptional regulators of fatty acid degradation were removed from E. coli in an effort to enhance MCL PHA biosynthesis. Deletion of arcA was successful in improving yields due to increased expression of fadD and fadL in the mutant strains. Although modest improvements in yield were observed in this mutant, a fed-batch high-density fermentation process was developed to further enhance MCL PHA yields using an industrially relevant bioprocess. Through process optimization, some of the highest yields and productivities were achieved to date, including for PHAs with chemically modifiable functional groups. One of these novel functional polymers, a copolymer of 3-hydroxyoctanoate and 3- hydroxy-10-azidodecanoate, was investigated as a targeted nanoparticle drug delivery system. Preliminary results show high encapsulation efficiency of paclitaxel and a surface chemistry amenable to rapid and efficient Click chemistry. In addition to work with MCL PHAs, short chain- length PHAs from a lignocellulosic waste stream, hydrolyzed paper mill waste fines. This work in its entirety demonstrates several successful strategies for improving the availability of PHAs with controlled compositions
Evaluation of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Imagery for Forest Regeneration Surveys
Full text linkAccurate and reliable methods of assessing forest regeneration are necessary to improve forest inventories and assist management decisions. This research evaluates the effectiveness of high spatial resolution imagery from unmanned aerial systems (UAS) to assess abundance and structure of forest regeneration. Data were collected for 696 young Norway spruce (Picea abies) trees to establish field-based census. UAS digital stereo imagery was collected at three altitudes, two flight speeds and four flight azimuths, for a total of 24 separate missions. Using two orthomosaic programs, orthoimages and Digital Elevation Models (DEM) were created. Number, location and size distribution of Norway spruce trees were derived from UAS products through manual and automated processes and compared to field measurements. Manual tree detection and position estimates produced best results with 93% accuracy, while automated tree detection was only 63% accurate. Significantly strong correlations (R2 \u3e 55%) between UAS crown estimates and field measurements were obtained
Exploring Spatially Varying Relationships between Forest Fire and Environmental Factors in Fujian, China
Full text linkIn recent decades, the occurrence of forest fires has risen in the world and led to significant, long-lasting impacts on ecological, social, and economic systems. Along with the traditional tools for fire prediction, statistical modeling has been playing an important role in understanding the nature of forest fires and providing guidelines for decision making of fire prevention and management. In this dissertation, a large data set was collected from 2001 to 2016 in Fujian province, China, including the occurrence of forest fires and many environmental factors. I developed spatial generalized linear models and spatial quantile models under the framework of geographically weighted regression (GWR) to investigate the relationships between the counts and proportion or rate of forest fires and driving topographical, meteorological, human, vegetation, and land coverage factors. The corresponding global models were used as the benchmarks for model comparisons. These spatial models included: (1) geographically weighted Poisson and geographically weighted negative binomial models designed for the counts of forest fires; (2) geographically weighted quantile models for the counts of forest fires at different quantiles or risk levels; and (3) geographically weighted beta model for the proportion or rate of forest fires. The results indicated that the observed forest fires were highly likely to occur in lower elevation, smaller aspect index (meaning stronger sunlight), heavier precipitation, smaller population density, less vegetation, wider grassland, and/or less cropland, while other environmental factors varied greatly with the forest fire occurrence. This study showed the great superiority of these GWR models to the corresponding global models in terms of characterizing the spatial nonstationary relationships, producing better model fitting and prediction, providing a more complete view on the spatial distribution of forest fires, and highlighting the risky local “hot spots” of forest fires as well as environmental factors across the Fujian province, China. Hopefully, the more detailed and localized information would help and assist the forest and fire managers to better understand the behavior of forest fires and influences of the environmental factors across the study area. Thus, the government agencies can make wiser and better decisions on where and what the fire management and prevention should be focused on with reduced economic expenses and improved the efficiency of forest fire management
Tree Physiology, Nutrient Dynamics, and the Legacy of Acidic Deposition within the Adirondack Mountains of New York, USA
No full textAcidic deposition is a major anthropogenic disturbance which has had a detrimental and long- lasting impacts on forests in the northeastern United States. While acidic deposition has known effects on forests, the mechanistic effects on tree physiology are not understood. We examine the effects of acidic deposition on northeastern forests in two ways: (1) we measure foliar respiration and chemistry of sugar maple (Acer saccharum) and American beech (Fagus grandifolia) to gauge the impacts on tree metabolism, (2) we examine the radial growth response of three under studied northern hardwood species to a watershed liming treatment. Our results suggest (1) foliar chemistry is strongly impacted by acidification, but foliar respiration is not and (2) radial growth of American beech, red maple (Acer rubrum) and red spruce (Picea rubens) does not respond significantly to liming. These results contribute to our understanding of how Northern hardwood forests have been impacted by acidic deposition
Studies of Lignin-Based Gels as Sorbents
Full text linkValorization of lignin is essential for the success of emerging lignocellulosic biorefineries. Additional valorization of non-cellulosic forest resources can also generate secondary revenue streams helpful for their sustainable operation. Toward these goals, lignins recovered from hot- water extracts of angiosperms produced at pilot scale (sugar maple, willow, miscanthus, wheat straw, mixed angiosperms) were characterized and further fractionated to generate fractions with distinct physicochemical properties. The recovered and fractionated lignins were used in synthesis of lignin-acrylamide-kaolin (10.7% w/w total lignin) and lignin-poly(ethylene glycol) diglycidyl ether (PEGDGE) gels (66.7 w/w total lignin). Lignin-acrylamide-kaolin gels were suitable for adsorption-based applications (removal of dye and metallic cations from aqueous solutions), while lignin-PEGDGE gels were suitable for absorption-based applications (absorption and release of fragrances and bioactive solutions). Two types of fractionation were found to influence gel properties differently, demonstrating the importance of lignin-to-carbohydrates ratio in the produced fraction on the hydrogel architecture. The methanolic and aqueous extracts of chaga mushroom (a non-lignocellulosic forest biomass) were found to have viable antioxidant properties. The hot-water extracts of chaga were further used in green synthesis of chaga-silver nanoparticles, expected to have bioactive properties. Lignin-PEGDGE gels were found to be good carriers for the delivery of these nanoparticles
Studies On A Co-generation System Of Bioethanol And Electricity Production With Microbial Fuel Cell Technology
No full textA sustainable future depends on increased participation of renewable energy, high efficiency energy utilization and resource conservation. Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are novel biotechnological instruments that can generate renewable energy from sustainable materials through microbial metabolism, thereby providing a new possibility for bioenergy production from organic sources. In this study, a co-generation system of bioethanol and electricity using a yeast microbial fuel cell (MFC) was investigated. The co-generation system was found to have a high power output (5.2 ± 0.5 W/m3 ) and high ethanol yield (92.5 ± 2%) when traces of methylene blue (MB) (6.25 mg/L) were added. Substrate concentration, temperature, initial anodic pH, MB addition were crucial impactors on power performance and ethanol production. Yeast domestication is an efficient way to foster power performance and ethanol production by screening the yeast which can generate electricity and ethanol simultaneously as well promoting yeast tolerance to MB. The electron extraction from ethanol fermentation is mainly from the glycolysis process in the cytosol and some from the respiration chain. However, the extraction of electrons has limited influence on changing the yeast central metabolic pathway under very low MB addition and low glucose feeds. When the glucose feed concentration was lower than 250 g/L, electron extraction during the fermentation process has no significant effect on ethanol production. However, under 300 g/L glucose loading, electron extraction contributes to a stable intracellular redox potential resulting in a 1.5% increase in ethanol production and a 5 and 10% decrease in glycerol and trehalose production, respectively
Eco-Industrial Parks: A Prototypical Design Approach to Industrial Landscapes
Full text linkThis project will look at the role of industry in the rural landscape, the development of a promising new biotechnology initiative, the literature and case studies regarding eco-industrial parks, the specific principles of biophilic design (including techniques for protecting an endangered salamander), and a design for an eco-industrial park (in the Town of Riverhead, New York) that represents the applications of the examined principles, and an analysis of the design in terms of the three key characteristics
Point to Pipe: Automatic Reconstruction and Classification of Pipes Using Lasergrammetry and Thermogrammetry for Building Information Modeling (BIM)
Full text linkExisting buildings account for 40% of global energy consumption, and two-thirds of them will be still be operational in 2050. As most of these buildings lack the needed documentation for energy upgrades, it is essential to understand and represent the current conditions of their envelopes and mechanical systems. This project proposed a skeleton-based application for reconstructing and classifying pipes in existing buildings using point clouds from laser scanners and thermal images for Building Information Modeling (BIM) applications. MATLAB and Dynamo were used to process and model this information in Revit. Initial results indicate that the application is robust to identifying pipes and connections, and that thermal images can be used to create sematic-rich models. These results can contribute to improving the capabilities of some of the commercially available software for pipe reconstruction in BIM and to expediting the digital reconstruction processes in existing buildings
Adapting for peace: International conservation practices in the context of violent conflict and its repercussions
No full textGlobally, biodiversity hotspots have served as the backdrop for a significant number of violent conflicts. The relationship between biodiversity and conflict is complex and varies a great deal across regions. Past inquiry has explored the impacts of conflict on the environment and the role of the environment in fueling violence; more recently, resources and ecosystems have become central to peacebuilding efforts. Not all conservationists can be peacebuilders or become experts on the relationship between conflict and conservation, nor should all conservation projects become environmental peacebuilding projects. However, international agencies intervening in regions where the effects of violence persist do need to be cognizant of the ways in which conflict can interact with conservation efforts. Through literature review and analysis of conservation practices of international aid organizations in Colombia, this thesis aims to inform broader discussions about how conservation projects are implemented in conflict and post- conflict regions
Assessing Residential Socioeconomic Factors Associated With Pollutant Releases Using EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory
Full text linkIt has been demonstrated that certain demographic groups – particularly minorities and low-income individuals – live disproportionately closer to polluting facilities. Therefore, we investigated the chemical releases from Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) facilities in four counties in Upstate New York (Albany, Erie, Monroe, and Onondaga Counties). Using hierarchal clustering, we created seven unique residential clusters from nine population demographics. We geocoded the polluting facilities into our residential clusters to determine if any demographic group was disproportionately exposed to the presence of TRI facilities. Next, the quantity, in pounds, of chemicals released were calculated, the chemicals released were weighted based upon their potential toxicity, and the Facility Scores from EPA’s Risk-Screening Environmental Indicators (RSEI) Model were obtained; the top five facilities with the highest Facility Scores per cluster were examined in detail to determine if any population demographic were disproportionately exposed to more severe chemicals