In the past three years, the
National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded
$32 million in funding for research led by faculty at South Dakota School of Mines & Technology
that expands human understanding of the microbial world. Much of the research
focuses on the environment microbes occupy when they attach to surfaces and
create what is commonly known as a biofilm.
The broad range of studies on microbes
and biofilms, funded by these grants, has a wide potential for applications
across many sectors of industry and society including energy generation, new
medicines, wastewater purification, agriculture, corrosion resistance, new
materials and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
The research effort of the newly
announced $20
million NSF grant titled “Building
on the 2020 Vision: Expanding Research, Education and Innovation in South
Dakota”
will be led by researchers at SD Mines, SDSU and USD. The funding was awarded
through the South Dakota Established Program
to Stimulate Competitive Research (SD EPSCoR) and the South Dakota Board of
Regents. The state of South Dakota is providing $4 million in matching funds
for the grant. The Governor’s office of Economic Development and Board of Regents
are providing $3 million and there is a $1 million match from the state
universities involved in the grant including SD Mines, University of South
Dakota and South Dakota State University.
Robb Winter, Ph.D., department head
and professor of chemical and biological engineering at SD Mines, will lead the
team of researchers from Mines and partnering institutions to develop
nationally recognized two-dimensional (2D) materials for the South Dakota Biofilm
Science and Engineering Center being created in the state.
“Biofilms are everywhere,” says Winter.
“You look at a stream and that’s a biofilm on the rocks. Soybeans want a
certain type of microbe around the root for taking in nutrients–this is a
favorable biofilm. There are biofilms in our water systems, and we don’t want
them there.”
Co-principal
investigator, Venkata Gadhamshetty, Ph.D., P.E, along with Rajesh Sani, Ph.D.,
Bharat Jasthi, Ph.D., and Saurabh Dhiman, Ph.D., will lead a research team at
SDSMT to study the interaction between biofilms and the 2D coatings. “These thin
coatings of 2D materials can be used to control biofilms that cause microbial
corrosion,” said Gadhamshetty. “The research also explores 2D material coating
technology to grow beneficial biofilms that boost the growth of plants with less
chemical fertilizers.”
This NSF grant also adds to South
Dakota’s high-tech workforce and research infrastructure. The grant allows for the hiring of additional
scientists at Mines and partner institutions. It also pays for critical
scientific equipment that can be used for years to come. This research opens
the door for increased collaboration with industry. Furthermore, this project
makes Mines and partner universities more competitive when applying for future federal
research funding. “This level of funding is unheard of at SD Mines. This level
of funding would be significant at any institution, even top tier research
universities,” says Winter.
Mines’ President, Jim Rankin, Ph.D.
adds, “SD Mines is proud to lead this cutting-edge research which has huge
potential benefits for the state and regional economy. This is an investment with
the potential to pay itself back many times over in the creation of new
start-ups and high-tech jobs that spin-off from the discoveries that are made.”
A second grant for a total of $6 million
titled “Data
Driven Material Discovery Center for Bioengineering Innovation” enables researchers at SD Mines, Montana State
University, the University of Nebraska - Omaha and the University of South
Dakota to catalogue and organize the large amounts of the data generated in the
study of biofilms. This new center will bring together diverse infrastructure
in bioscience, computer science and material science to analyze and draw
conclusions from the large amounts of data gathered in this research.
A third $6 million NSF grant
announced in 2017, known as the BuG ReMeDEE initiative led by Dr. Sani is
making headway in research into the life cycle and makeup of microbes found in
the depths of the Sanford Underground Research Facility and other extreme
environments. The project’s full title is Building Genome-to-Phenome
Infrastructure for Regulating Methane in Deep and Extreme Environments or BuG
ReMeDEE. Read more on the initiative here.
These grants also include education
components in partnership with Black Hills State University and other schools that
boost K-12 science education in the state and increase opportunities for
undergraduate and graduate research. The grants also include funding of training
programs for K-12 teachers to implement new STEM based hands-on curriculum for their
students.