Industrial Waste/ Microbial Bioremediation workshop

Dates/ Times: December 5 from 1-4pm & December 7 from 1-2:30pm

Instructor: WhiteFeather Hunter with Alex Bachmayer, technical assistant

Day 1 will introduce participants to techniques used to culture soil microbes found in ambient soil samples, as well as to soil inoculation techniques using a special species of bacteria known to produce 24k gold. Participants will be provided with different soil samples that have been collected around Montreal. These samples will be used to prepare soil dilutions for streaking on to agar plates in order to gain a sense of what is growing unseen in Montreal’s neighbourhoods. The same soil samples will also be used to inoculate with the gold-producing bacteria. We will discuss soil ecology, toxic/ industrial waste and how microbial bioremediation works, as well as when it might be used to restore or enhance a soil ecology. We will look at some bioremediation projects that have been initiated by Concordia researchers as examples of a variety of methods that can be used, and discuss ethical issues that have arisen.

Day 2 will include microscopic analysis of the soil and plate cultures by preparing glass microscopy slides. Imaging of the microscopic specimens can be attained using a regular phone camera.

This workshop is jointly supported by IOTA Institute and the Milieux Institute, and is open to Milieux Institute members.

To register: marc.beaulieu@concordia.ca

Mireille Bourgeois photo.