The Department of Energy Integrated Field Research Challenge (IFRC) site at Rifle, Colorado is a widely-used bioremediation research site. Using the resident microbes to help bioremediate an area is an important, potentially cost-effective environmental cleanup strategy. This project involves the application of massive sequencing to several subsurface samples to be collected from across the (unstimulated) IFRC floodplain. The data will be of substantial interest to researchers studying bioremediation and subsurface manipulation. The proposed research will provide new organisms and pathways that can be harnessed for cost effective environmental management and cleanup. The project will also be informative for programs exploring subsurface manipulation of hydrological properties and carbon sequestration.
Proposer’s Name: Jill Banfield, University of California, Berkeley