Proposed Projects 2006/7
Below is a list of suitable undergraduate and taught masters projects. However, students are welcome to suggest ideas of their own. My own areas of interest are in freshwater ecology and assessment; pollution control, in particular wastewater treatment and sludge disposal; and environmental science in general.
Projects are marked as being particularly suitable, but not exclusively, for: Bot Botany Senior Sophistor students ES Environmental Science Senior Sophistor students; Geog Geography Senior Sophistor students; Zoo Zoology Senior Sophistor students; MSc Environmental Science masters students.
Note all the projects below involving aquatic field work requires the sample collection to be completed during the summer prior to the beginning of term due to the unreliability of the weather after September. Please click on the list below for further details of individual projects.
06-1 Efficiency of a time-restricted sorting protocol for freshwater macro-invertebrates
06-2 Effect of sieve size on macro-invertebrate sampling
06-3 Sub-sampling as a means of speeding macro-invertebrate analysis
06-4 The use of EPT and DT in macro-invertebrate analysis
06-5 Ecological survey of the Lower Avoca River
06-6 Treatment of acid mine drainage in admixture with sewage
06-7 The use of Peritrichia in activated sludge assessment
06-8 Precision in ciliate counting in activated sludge
06-9 Evolution in ciliate communities in activated sludge
06-10 The effect of ammonia concentrations on the activated sludge process
06-11 Effects of collection and storage on analysis of Acid Mine Drainage
06-12 Survey of filamentous bacteria responsible for foaming in activated sludge
06-13 Wastewater composition and activated sludge foaming
06-14 The evolution of the Avoca mine site in terms of landscape and social impact
06-15 Survey of rotifers in activated sludge plants
06-16 Survey of rotifers in riverine periphyton
If you are interested in any of the projects above aor would like to discuss projects then please contact me.
Freshwater Ecology
06-1 Efficiency of a time-restricted sorting protocol for freshwater macro-invertebrates ES,Zoo, MSc
Once collected, samples must be sorted in order that diversity and abundance can be measured. Traditionally the entire sample would be examined with all the macro-invertebrates removed by hand. This procedure could take 2-6 hours depending on the number of organisms collected during the standard sampling period, usually three minutes using a hand net. The project compares a protocol that limits sorting time to between 30 and 60 minutes and where a maximum sample size of 200 is considered adequate for assessment, to the complete removal of all the animals present regardless of the time it takes. Resultant efficiency of the time-restricted sorting will be assessed in terms of percentage recovery of taxa, quality assessment using a range of indices and also effort.
06-2 Effect of sieve size on macro-invertebrate sampling ES, Zoo, MSc
Freshwater macro-invertebrate sampling often employs sieves to aid the removal of animals from sediment and debris. Macro-invertebrates are considered animals >500μm, the size of the mesh used in sampling nets. However, the smaller the sieves used the greater the recovery of animals from the sample. The project investigates whether a smaller portion of individuals, obtained using a larger sized sieve, can accurately reflect water quality and freshwater community health. In this study samples collected using a hand net will be sorted using a range of sieves to ascertain the recovery and assessment potential of different size fractions within a range of samples. From this diversity, abundance and a range of indices will be used to compare the efficiency of these different size fractions.
06-3 Sub-sampling as a means of speeding macro-invertebrate analysis ES, Zoo, MSc
It is now common practice to sub-sample collected macro-invertebrates and to identify and count only a small portion of the total collection. This study reviews this approach and then looks at the effect of sample size on precision and repeatability.
06-4 The use of EPT and DT in macro-invertebrate analysis ES, Zoo, MSc
The percentage of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera (EPT) and the percentage of the Dominant Taxa (DT) are increasingly being used in the analysis of macro-invertebrate communities with low EPT values indicating pollution and high DT values indicating stressed environments. This study will search the literature for macro-invertebrate data sets from a wide range of impacted and unimpacted lotic and lentic systems and reanalyse them using a range of pollution and diversity indices in order to assess the precision of EPT and DT in discriminating between different communities. This project contains no fieldwork.
06-5 Ecological survey of the Lower Avoca River Zoo, MSc
The biological status of the Lower Avoca River in south Wicklow, which is heavily impacted by acid mine drainage, has been slowly improving over the past four years. This study will survey the river over the summer to ascertain its current quality status, as well as monitor the water quality of the drainage from the mines as well as the river.
Pollution control
06-6 Treatment of acid mine drainage in admixture with sewage MSc
Acid mine drainage is a worldwide phenomenon that causing major environmental damage to both surface and ground waters. There are a number of on-site treatment options for AMD but these are generally prohibitively expensive both in capital and operational terms. This project will examine the potential of combing sewage treatment provision with the treatment of AMD using the standard activated sludge process. The project is based on the premise that the solids fraction (in the screened wastewater or as sludge) can be used to adsorb the metals and neutralize the acidity that characterizes AMD. Two process systems will be tested (i) using a flash mixer prior to primary sedimentation to encourage adsorption of metals from AMD by the solids fraction of screened wastewater and (ii) using a mixing tank and sedimentation basin to encourage adsorption of metals from AMD by a mixed primary and secondary sludge prior to thickening and dewatering, with the treated AMD then entering the inlet of the plant in admixture with the incoming raw wastewater. The two combined wastewaters will subsequently be treated in laboratory-scale activated sludge plants to assess the effect on settleability, floc morphology, microbiology and performance. This is an experimental project based entirely in the laboratory.
06-7 The use of Peritrichia in activated sludge assessment ES, Zoo, MSc
Ciliate protozoa are widely employed in the assessment of the activated sludge process. However a fundamental problem with using ciliates is the difficulty of accurate identification of certain groups. This study explores the use of the stalked ciliates (Peritrichia) as the sole means of assessing quality. This will involve (i) using the literature to review the abundance and diversity of peritrichia in activated sludge, (ii) producing a simple key to separate the species, (iii) identifying species saprobity, and (iv) testing the group by comparing peritrichia against whole community analysis.
06-8 Precision in ciliate counting in activated sludge ES, Zoo, MSc
Protozoa and rotifers are a major component of the biomass of the secondary wastewater treatment process activated sludge. This experimental project will examine the accuracy of existing sampling and counting methods and propose a standard sampling protocol. Variables affecting counts (e.g. sample size, replication, storage, temperature, aeration etc.) will be assessed in the development of the protocol.
06-9 Evolution in ciliate communities in activated sludge ES, Zoo, MSc
This project looks at the evolution of a range of different sludges over prolonged periods under different operating conditions to test the hypothesis that ciliate communities in activated sludge develop in an identical manner when operating conditions are identical. Involves building and operating laboratory-scale activated sludge units for several months and carrying out routine settleability, morphological and protozoan analysis.
06-10 The effect of ammonia concentrations on the activated sludge process ES, MSc
Using laboratory scale activated sludge treatment units, the effect of elevated ammonia concentrations on the morphology, settleability and performance will be assessed. This will involve building a laboratory scale unit and operating it for several months during which a range of microbiological, physical and chemical analyses will be carried out on a weekly basis.
06-11 Effects of collection and storage on analysis of Acid Mine Drainage ES, Zoo, MSc
Acid mine drainage is an acidic waste generated by pyritic mines and their spoil. The liquid is rich in metals, especially iron, and sulphate ions. Immediately upon collection the iron begins to precipitate out of solution with other metals co-precipitating with it. This makes routine surveillance of metal concentrations in acid mine drainage difficult. The project will quantify the rate of loss of metals from AMD on storage and identify the best method to eliminate this problem. This will be followed by a short assessment of AMD quality at Avoca.
06-12 Survey of filamentous bacteria responsible for foaming in activated sludge Bot, MSc
Foaming is a major operational problem in activated sludge process operation. In this study samples from a large number of sewage treatment plants will be studied and the types of bacterial and other filamentous organisms identified using standard staining techniques. The aims of the study are to (i) identify the proportion of plants with foaming organisms present, (ii) the causative organisms at foaming plants, (iii) relate the presnce of foaming organisms and actual foaming with plant design and wastewater characteristics.
06-13 Wastewater composition and activated sludge foaming Bot, MSc
The question ‘is wastewater composition the primary causative factor in activated sludge foaming is investigated using lab or pilot scale activated sludge systems. The units will be used to test whether a wastewater associated with foaming always causes foaming even when different seed sludges are used. Conversely a foaming sludge will be used with different wastewaters to ascertain if the seed is the problem.
06-14 The evolution of the Avoca mine site in terms of landscape and social impact Geog
The extraction of copper started at the Avoca site in 1720 and sulphur in 1839, continuing erratically until the mines finally closed in 1982. Iron had been mined at the site for 200 years before this date and the Romans had recorded the presence of iron ores in the area some 1300 years earlier. While the history of mining on the site is well documented, little has been done to collate existing visual and topographical information. This study will search for documentary evidence from which the changes in the landscape of the mining site can be charted, and how this affected the community.
06-15 Survey of rotifers in activated sludge plants ES, Zoo, MSc
Rotifera are a broad group of micro-organisms often included in the zooplankton. There are quite common in activated sludge plants but little has been done on either their distribution or ecology in the system. This project will use the new key developed by Dr James Haney and his colleagues to compile a species list in domestic treatment plants and also to compare community structure with operational variables such as loading, sludge age etc. Have a look at this wonderful key at: http://cfb.unh.edu/CFBkey/html/index.html.
06-16 Survey of rotifers in riverine periphyton ES, Zoo, MSc
Rotifera are a broad group of micro-organisms often included in the zooplankton and are found closley associated with surface heterotrophic growths (i.e. periphyton) in surface waters. In Ireland little has been done on either their distribution or ecology in periphyton or in the water phase of rivers. This project will use the new key developed by Dr James Haney and his colleagues to look at the effects of water quality on the distribution of rotifers in a river or lake. Have a look at this wonderful key at: http://cfb.unh.edu/CFBkey/html/index.html.
Last updated:
January 12, 2006
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