IWU Freeman Asia Internship, Philippines

Poster created by students in the 2017 IWU Freeman Asia Internship Program

Fostering effective and sustainable scientific collaboration and knowledge exchange: a workshop-based approach to establish a national ecological observatory network (NEON) domain-specific user group

The decision to establish a network of researchers centers on identifying shared research goals. Ecologically specific regions, such as the USA’s National Ecological Observatory Network’s (NEON’s) eco-climatic domains, are ideal locations by which to assemble researchers with a diverse range of expertise but focused on the same set of ecological challenges. The recently established Great Lakes User Group (GLUG) is NEON’s first domain specific ensemble of researchers, whose goal is to address scientific and technical issues specific to the Great Lakes Domain 5 (D05) by using NEON data to enable advancement of ecosystem science. Here, we report on GLUG’s kick off workshop, which comprised lightning talks, keynote presentations, breakout brainstorming sessions and field site visits. Together, these activities created an environment to foster and strengthen GLUG and NEON user engagement. The tangible outcomes of the workshop exceeded initial expectations and include plans for (i) two journal articles (in addition to this one), (ii) two potential funding proposals, (iii) an assignable assets request and (iv) development of classroom activities using NEON datasets. The success of this 2.5-day event was due to a combination of factors, including establishment of clear objectives, adopting engaging activities and providing opportunities for active participation and inclusive collaboration with diverse participants. Given the success of this approach we encourage others, wanting to organize similar groups of researchers, to adopt the workshop framework presented here which will strengthen existing collaborations and foster new ones, together with raising greater awareness and promotion of use of NEON datasets. Establishing domain specific user groups will help bridge the scale gap between site level data collection and addressing regional and larger ecological challenges

Estimating The Impact Of Large Hog Farms On Freshwater Mussel Diversity

In the U.S., hog farms are mostly concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), where hogs are raised in large numbers in a small area. Such farming practice concentrates waste, leading to the contamination of water resources. This has implications for the environment, human health and aquatic life. Hog farms pollute the water with contaminants like ammonia, which is harmful to aquatic species like freshwater mussels. North America has the richest diversity of freshwater mussels in the world, and about 63 species are found in Illinois itself. Hog farming practices can threaten the freshwater mussel populations, which are already declining due to anthropogenic environmental pollution. We wanted to answer the question, where would hog farms impacts on mussels be highest in a river system? We focused on the Spoon River watershed in Central Illinois as it is an extensively studied site for mussel diversity, and is an area receiving push for introduction of additional CAFOs. We used geographic information systems (GIS) technology to map out the hog farms and create a preliminary predictive model for the impact intensity of hog farms along the Spoon Rivers and its tributaries. We predict higher impacts in tributaries near hog farm operations and the middle stretch of the main Spoon River. The lower half region of the watershed is predicted to have higher hog farm impacts due to the cumulative impacts of all farms upstream of the region. Thus, if more hog farms are added, the lower region might be affected the most. Our model provides a visual representation of predicted hog farm impacts for further comparison with Spoon watershed mussel diversity data

Around the Philippines in 60 Days

Blog created by Ojaswee Shrestha for the 2017 Freeman Asian Internship Progra

Inhibition and Reduction of Biofilm Production along with Their Antibiogram Pattern among Gram-Negative Clinical Isolates

Background. Bacterial biofilm is a significant virulence factor threatening patients, leading to chronic infections and economic burdens. Therefore, it is crucial to identify biofilm production, its inhibition, and reduction. In this study, we investigated biofilm production among Gram-negative isolates and assessed the inhibitory and reduction potential of ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid (EDTA) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) towards them. In addition, we studied the antimicrobial resistance pattern of the Gram-negative isolates. Methods. Bacterial isolation and identification was done using standard microbiological techniques, following the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guideline, 28th edition. The Kirby–Bauer disk diffusion method was used to determine the antibiotic susceptibility pattern of the isolates, and β-lactamase production was tested via the combination disk method. Biofilm formation was detected through the tissue culture plate (TCP) method. Different concentrations of EDTA and DMSO were used to determine their inhibitory and reduction properties against the biofilm. Both inhibition and reduction by the various concentrations of EDTA and DMSO were analyzed using paired t-tests. Results. Among the 110 clinical isolates, 61.8% (68) were found to be multidrug resistant (MDR). 30% (33/110) of the isolates were extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) producers, 14.5% (16/110) were metallo-β-lactamase (MBL), and 8% (9/110) were Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC) producers. Biofilm formation was detected in 35.4% of the isolates. Biofilm-producing organisms showed the highest resistance to antibiotics such as cephalosporins, chloramphenicol, gentamicin, and carbapenem. The inhibition and reduction of biofilm were significantly lower (p < 0.05) for 1 mM of EDTA and 2% of DMSO. Conclusion. Isolates forming biofilm had a higher resistance rate and β-lactamase production compared to biofilm nonproducers. EDTA and DMSO were found to be potential antibiofilm agents. Hence, EDTA and DMSO might be an effective antibiofilm agent to control biofilm-associated infections