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IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY

Agricultural & Biosystems Engineering

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	Hickory Grove Lake Watershed Management Plan This grant will continue our ongoing work in the Hickory Grove Lake watershed. In addition to continued monitoring and modeling activities, we will develop a watershed management plan, survey stakeholders, and develop educational materials. We will be hosting a field day on September 8th, 2011- visit soon for more details! Sponsor: Iowa Department of Natural Resources Watershed coordinator: Aaron Andrews PI: Michelle Soupir co-PI: Matt Helmers

Impact of laying hen manure application on water quality under continuous corn We will test drainflow from field plots receiving laying hen manure for nitrate and dissolved reactive phosphorous concentrations. This project is a continuation of 12 years of water quality monitoring sponsored by the Iowa Egg Council. Sponsor: Iowa Egg Council PI: Ramesh Kanwar co-PI: Michelle Soupir

PCR image by Trang Hoang	Occurrence and Movement of Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria and Resistance Genes in Tile-Drained Agricultural Fields Receiving Swine Manure Application The goal of this project is to further understanding of the occurrence and transport of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes in tile-drained agricultural fields that have received multi-year application of liquid swine manure through injection. We will test the occurrence in soils collected from no-till and chisel plow fields and the transport into tile drainage systems. Sponsor: National Pork Board PI: Michelle Soupir co-PIs: Thomas Moorman and Alok Bhandari Student: Jason Garder

Improving a Watershed Scale Model to Integrate Wetlands into Watershed Planning The goal of this project is to increase and improve wetland protection and restoration efforts by developing a tool to integrate wetland protection efforts into watershed plans designed to improve water quality. We will improve the wetland hydrologic and water quality processes in SWAT and conduct scenarios to optimize placement of new wetlands and prioritize restoration efforts on a watershed scale. Sponsor: U.S. EPA Region 7 PI: Michelle Soupir co-PIs: Bill Crumpton, Phil Gassman, Matt Helmers, and Manoj Jha Student: Charles Ikenberry

	NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates Site: Sustainable Production and Processing for Biomass-Derived Fuels of the Future. Coming Summer 2011!! www.public.iastate.edu/~abereu Sponsor: National Science Foundation PI: Raj Raman Co-PIs: Michelle Soupir and Alok Bhandari

Hickory Grove Water Quality Improvement Hickory Grove Lake is experiencing event-driven water quality problems. In general, the watershed is 85% row crop and has very few elevation changes, and much of the agricultural land is under tile drainage management. Storm related surface runoff has led to gully erosion, debris, and nitrogen spikes immediately after these events. We are monitoring the water quality and flow into and out of the lake, modeling the watershed with SWAT, and engaging stakeholders in the water quality improvement process. Sponsor: Iowa Department of Natural Resources PI: Michelle Soupir co-PIs: Matt Helmers and Alok Bhandari Student: Rohith Gali

Improving SWAT for developing TMDLs for bacteria

This project will improve modeling of in-stream bacteria fate and transport processes by incorporating bacteria resuspension and enhancing bacteria decay capabilities of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT).

Sponsor: U.S. EPA Region 7
PI: Michelle Soupir
co-PI: Chris Rehmann
Student: Pramod Pandey

The Potential Role of Poultry Manure Fertilizer in Pathogen and Pharmaceutical Contamination of Soil and Water

We will test drainflow from field plots and matrix flow from lab-scale soil columns, both receiving layer manure application, for the presence of campylobacter, salmonella, indicator bacteria, nutrients, and estrogens.

Sponsor: Iowa Egg Council

PI: Ramesh Kanwar

co-PI: Michelle Soupir

Student: Claire Hruby

Resuspension of E. coli in sediment laden streams

This project involves laboratory experiments to measure resuspension of E. coli from a sediment bed, development of equations to predict the process, and field experiments in Squaw Creek to test the resuspension relationships developed from the laboratory results. Improved models of the fate and transport of E. coli in streams will improve predictions of conditions where a risk to human health is likely and the implementation of land management practices to reduce bacterial pollution in the nation’s water bodies.

PI: Michelle Soupir
Student: Amy Cervantes
Currently recruiting a M.S. student for this project
Sponsor: National Science Foundation

Release and resuspension of direct fecal deposits in streams

Direct fecal deposits from cattle allowed access to streams can be a leading cause of E. coli pollution in agricultural watersheds. Microorganisms in the cowpats can survive in stream sediments for extended periods of time and are resuspended during high flows. We are using a flume to study the resuspension of E. coli into the water column.

Students: Rachel McDaniel and Ross Tuttle

Transport of tylosin resistant bacteria through macropores

The transport of antibiotic resistant enterococci and E. coli into tile lines below no-till and chisel plow field plots was examined following swine manure applications in November 2009 and April 2010.

Student: Trang Hoang

Escherichia coli transport, resistance, and virulence factors from land applied swine slurry

E. coli collected from swine manure are being examined for attachment to soil and resistance to antibiotics, including tylosin, erythomycin, ampicillan, and chloramphenicol. Relationships between antibiotic resistance and attachment mechanisms are also being investigated.

Student: Martha Zwonitzer

	E. coli survival in aerobic and anaerobic digesters We are comparing the survival of Escherichia coli in lab scale aerobic and anaerobic digesters. The goal is to optimize the hydraulic retention time in these systems to reduce pathogens in dairy manure before application to agricultural lands. Student: Pramod Pandey

Graduate Projects at Virginia Tech

Transport of pathogen indicators from pasturelands during runoff events Transport of pathogen indicators to surface waters is a leading cause of water quality impairments in the United States. Improved understanding of bacterial transport mechanisms will aid in the design and selection of best management practices.


*Die-off of E. coli* and enterococci in dairy cowpats** Shortcomings exist in the first order decay equations frequently used to model in-field bacterial die-off. The goal of this study was to assess E. coli and enterococci re-growth and decay patterns in cowpats applied to pasturelands and model these patterns with higher order time approximations and weather parameters.

	Release of pathogen indicators during high-intensity rainfall events Soil properties have been found to influence attachment of E. coli and enterococci to particulates. A portable rainfall simulator was used to examine partitioning in runoff during high intensity rainfall events from cowpats applied to three Virginia soils.

*A method to partition between attached and unattached E. coli* in runoff from agricultural lands** This laboratory study compared various separation and dispersion techniques to partition between particulate associated and unattached E. coli. Optimal dispersion was achieved by a 10-minute hand shaker treatment followed by serial dilutions in 1,000 ppm Tween-85 solution and confirmed by fluorescence microcopy. Fractional filtration separated particulates into sand, silt and clay sized categories.