By Grant Clark, Bioresource Engineering
This year, the students in the Bio-Treatment of Wastes class and I are doing an experiment. I have asked the students to do a group project with a twist: each group is producing a 5-minute video, about a bio-treatment topic, to be posted to YouTube. These are our Mini Online Open Projects, or MOOPies. Each MOOPy is introduced by its creators during the BREE 518 lab period and then we view and discuss it together as a class.
I invite you to view the first MOOPy ever produced!
Please leave an encouraging and instructive comment on YouTube for its creators.
In-Situ Biological Treatment of Contaminated Soil
by Kaitlin Lloyd, Kendell McBride, Brenda Moore, and Pernilla Talec
This video explains the two most important methods of In-Sity Biological Treatment of Contaminated Soil, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA):bioventing and phytoremediation. Bioventing involves the injection of air into the vadose zone of the soil, increasing the indigenous microbial activity, which in turn increases the rate of removal of the pollutants. Bioventing is particularly efficient at targeting pollutants from petroleum products. Phytoremediation is the use of plants to extract, degrade, contain, or immobilize contaminants in the soil and water. The U.S. EPA classifies phytoremediation into 5 different sub-processes:phytoextraction, phytodegradation, hytostabilization, phytovolatilization, and rhizodegradation. Currently, phytoremediation is used to remediate many classes of contamination, including petroleum hydrocarbons, chlorinated solvents, pesticides, explosives, heavy metals, and landfill leachates.
Associate Director, Learning Environments, Teaching and Learning Services, McGill University. Focused on our physical and digital learning environments and the appropriate and effective use of technology in teaching and learning.