Assistant Professor of Biology Mike McCormick was awarded a $100,000 grant by the Department of Energy to study the use of iron-reducing bacteria to help remediate groundwater contaminated with uranium. The iron-reducing bacteria that are the subject of the study use iron oxides to support cell respiration. In essence, they "breath rust." In carrying out normal life processes these bacteria profoundly affect the geochemistry of the environments where they live often producing a variety of biogenic mineral byproducts.
McCormick and his students will investigate the processes that result in the formation of these biogenic minerals and further will examine how these minerals may be used to chemically trap dissolved forms of uranium that are commonly found at uranium contaminated sites. Through this project, Hamilton College is participating in a multi-institutional effort lead by the Molecular Environmental Science Group at Argonne National Laboratory. Other collaborating institutions include the University of Iowa, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the University of Sofia, Bulgaria.
