Research

Sustainability of algae cultivation for nutrient pollution recovery from natural waters.

Nutrient pollution is a serious threat to nearshore aquatic environments, driving these ecosystems into eutrophic state and poor water quality.  We are assessing the use of land-based cultivation of benthic algae as a pollution control measure in aquatic systems. Our research is looking at the systems implementation of the technology, assessing the economic and environmental sustainability using life-cycle analysis. Implemented systems for analysis include pilot-scale systems in the Great Lakes (in Buffalo, NY), and bench-scale systems in Alabama.

Our research is focused on understanding the mechanisms of colonization and growth of phototrophic algal biofilms on various substrata and surfaces, and using that knowledge for the design and engineering of reactors for algal cultivation for water pollution control and biomass production. We are interested in a systems approach to assessing the sustainability of algal cultivation systems as ecologically-engineered systems for pollution control and biomass production for supply of biofuels or fertilizer. Some of the projects are described below.

Design of gnotobiotic periphytic communities for functional yields

While controlled cultivation of algal biofilms has been investgated for pollution recovery and biomass production, performance and yield can be limited because of competitive exclusion from less-desirable species. We are interested in investigating various approaches to controlleing benthic algal colonization, growth, and metabolism to select for conditions optimized for community-specific algal productivity.

Feedback control design in ecologically-engineered phototrophic ecosystems

The design of autonomously-controlled ecologically engineered systems is important for large-scale implementation of functional systems. We are interested in the design of feedback control systems for autonomous control of production processes in phototrophic systems, and the study of the feedback coupling between techological and ecological components and its implications for sustainability of human-natural system coupling.

David M. Blersch, Ph.D.

Algae Systems and Ecological Engineering Laboratory