Sea Grant will fund water pollution study

Two GC&SU faculty members are leading a project that has been awarded a $10,000 grant from the Georgia Sea Grant Program.

Dr. Andrei Barkovskii, and Dr. Dave Bachoon, assistant professors at GC&SU's Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, and Dr. Johannes Leisen, a co-investigator from Georgia Tech, are researching the sediments of the Savannah, Satilla, and Altamaha rivers to determine their quotient of both chemical and microbiological contamination.

Bachoon said that this is "a way to develop molecular techniques for studying the impact of urban development of coastal ecosystems." He also said that this program will involve comparing the sediment of a clean site with that of a polluted site in order to provide hard evidence of contamination for legislators and business owners.

Barkovskii said that this method will eventually be developed into a way of getting a "quick snapshot" of the pollution content of any body of water.
Three graduate students from the biology department -- Lorie Davis, Reginald Jackson, and Nathan Charles Webb-- are assisting with this project.

Georgia Sea Grant is part of the National Sea Grant College Program, a network of 30 programs located in each of the coastal and Great Lakes states. It uses funds from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for local research, education, and outreach programs. It also encourages collaboration among governmental, educational, and industrial institutions with regard to coastal needs.

For more information, contact Dr. Andrei Barkovskii at 478-445-4246.

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