Environmental Research and Training

Florida A&M University is involved in several research projects in the following areas:

	Water quality
	Wetlands (pollution of soil and water)
	Habitat loss and biological control of aquatic weeds
	Sustainable agriculture
	Biotechnology
	Small animal systems
	Aquaculture
	Rural development

To enhance the university's research in these areas, a center for water quality has been proposed to conduct basic and applied research with the goal of protecting and improving water quality and quantity. In addition, researchers have been monitoring several freshwater streams of the Ochlocknee River Basin in North Florida to develop a biotic index for monitoring water quality.

Florida A&M has a vision of establishing a center of excellence for the development and deployment of life-cycle strategies for designing materials, products, processes, and systems with the environment in mind. The university's long-term goals are to conduct research in environmentally conscious manufacturing and to create and maintain a pipeline of minority engineers and scientists for the environmental disciplines.

Research Facilities

Chemistry and Physics Departments These departments are housed in a 5-story, 35,000-ft2 building that provides office space and teaching/research laboratory space. The university received a National Science Foundation Academic Research Facilities Modernization award, which was matched with state funds to support a $1.4M renovation of the science facility research space. In addition, first-phase funds have been received for the construction of an $11M, 6500-ft2 basic science research facility.

Academic Computing Center The 6000-ft2 center offers an IBM 4381 mainframe and 40 workstations for faculty/student use. Engineering and physics faculty have access to the Cray YMP and Connection Machine housed in the Supercomputer Computations Research Institute at Florida State University.

Major Equipment

	Numerous Macintosh, Sun, HP, DEC, IBM, and SGI personal computers and workstations
	Supercomputer, ETA 10
	IBM 4381 academic computer
	Electron microscope
	Spectrophotometer W (visible)
	Spectrofluorometer (Amico-Bowman)
	Refrigerated high-speed centrifuge
	Gibson respirometer
	Biosonic sonifer
	Gas chromatographs
	Buchler fraction collector
	Fluorescence microscope
	Electronic oscilloscopes
	Varian Model 11100 AA spectrometer
	Perkin-Elmer Model R24A NMR spectrometer
	Syntax P21 X-Ray Diffractometer
	Medium quartz spectrograph
	Czreny Turner spectrograph
	Hewlett Packard Model 7628 multidetector gas chromatograph
	Waters Associate Model AG 404/202 high-pressure liquid chromatograph
	Cabalco Discs Gel Electrophoresis
	Bausch and Lomb Model 20 visible absorption spectrophotometer
	Mossbauer spectrometer
	Multichannel analyzers
	Lock-in amplifiers
	Bausch and Lomb Model UV-visible spectronic 505
	Variety of manufacturing and metrology equipment

Faculty Profiles

C. L. Coultas, Retired Professor and Senior Research Associate of Wetland Ecology.
Research interests: Biogeochemistry of wetland soils and ecosystems carbon and nutrient cycling.

Cassel S. Gardner, Assistant Professor of Water Quality and Waste Management (Ph.D., University of Florida).
Research interests: (1) Management factors relating to the application, efficacy, transport, and fate of nitrates and pesticides in the soil-plant-atmospheric continuum and (2) environmentally sound practices for handling on-farm and home-garden-derived solid waste material.

Yuch-Ping Hsieh, Professor and Project Leader of Wetland Ecology (Ph.D., Rutgers University).
Research interests: Nature and properties of wetlands, sustainable agriculture, and processes in the intertidal marshes of Florida.

Michael Hubbard, Assistant Professor of Aquatic Entomology (Ph.D., Florida State University).
Research interests: Freshwater organisms and their relation to water quality.

Jerome Jones, Assistant Professor of Entomology (M.S., Florida State University).
Research interests: Rapid bioassessment methodology and development of a regional biotic index for monitoring water quality in coastal plains streams.

Yaw A. Owusu, Industrial Engineering (Ph.D.).
Research interests: Analysis of applications of composite materials; environmentally conscious manufacturing; bioconversion of waste paper and paper pulp into useful products; bioconversion of pomace, paper, and pulp into livestock feed; and biodegradation of plastics/composite materials for making automobiles.

Ben Wang, Chairman of the Department of Industrial Engineering (Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University).
Research interests: Application of analytical and artificial intelligence models to the improvement of quality, productivity, and manufacturing competitiveness. Particular interest in integrated product and process design, environmentally conscious manufacturing, and the design of intelligent manufacturing systems.

Abraham Weaver, Assistant Professor of Environmental Toxicology, Pharmacy (Ph.D., University of Oklahoma).
Research interests: Mammalian environmental toxicological manifestations caused by heavy metals, risk assessment evaluations of environmental pollutants, environmental impact of hazardous wastes, and national and international impacts of radioactive waste management procedures.

For more information about tasking Florida A&M University
for technical support, contact:
Cathy S. Fore
LMES HBCU/MEI Involvement Program Coordinator
Phone: 423-576-6838
e-mail: forecs@ornl.gov

Prepared by Lockheed Martin Energy Systems, Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy under contract DE-AC05-84OR21400

April 1997