PRINCESS ANNE, MD- (July
7, 2021)-A University of Maryland Eastern Shore researcher and students from
underrepresented minorities in STEM who are majoring in natural sciences will
be tackling one of the U.S. Navy’s most costly problems –biofilm formation, or
fouling. Biofilms, which lead to attachment
of barnacles, cause millions of dollars of damage to naval ships and platforms
each year and contribute to ecological changes with the potential to cause fish
mortality and algal blooms.
The
U.S. Navy has awarded Dr. Victoria Volkis, a professor of chemistry and
director of UMES’ Master of Science Program, $1 million to study the use of
natural plants for antifouling protection, under the “Sea platform
environmental quality, corrosion control and advanced naval materials” field of
interest. Not only will she serve as the principal investigator
of a U.S. Navy Minority Serving Institution Program grant, she will also
devote all of her academic time to the project as the recipient of a
Distinguished Faculty Fellow award for the next three years.
“We
will take nature as a template to study plants and algae high in antioxidants and
encapsulated into different types of polymers as sources of novel anti-fouling
agents,” Volkis said. “Take sea
cucumbers, for instance. They never get
coated by biofilm due to their ability to secrete natural bactericides.”
Natural
remedies to the problem, she said, are necessary as tributyltin and other
biocides in antifouling paints are banned in many countries, including the
U.S., due to their high toxicity.
Current alternative solutions are costly and focus on highly hydrophobic
polymers, which do not offer effective control as they have difficulties with
scaling up.
The
goals of the project, she said, are to examine essential oils, terpenes and
antioxidants from berries, leaves of specialty crops, medical herbs and algae
(phytoextracts) for their antifouling properties. These compounds “have the ability to
scavenger free radicals and kill bacteria.” Researchers will then develop
procedures to encapsulate extracts into polymers, particularly with slow
release capabilities. They will test samples and evaluate how different types
and concentrations of extracts, polymers and other factors influence the
quality and properties of antifouling formulations.
“We anticipate evaluating
different species of super-fruits, berries and algae, several types of polar
and non-polar solvents, along with traditional and biodegradable polymers to
determine effective biofilm control formulations,” she said. “We will also take water samples from the
Chesapeake Bay, Assawoman Bay and local rivers and ponds to evaluate how
different marine environments influence the types of bacteria and intensity of
growth during the biofilm formation process.”
Algae
will be harvested, she said, using the UMES research vessel through the Paul S.
Sarbanes Coastal Ecology Teaching and Research Center near Assateague, UMES’
dedicated marine field laboratory station.
Water samples will be tested in the lab of collaborating UMES professor
and Director of Research, Dr. Joseph Pitula.
Dr. J. Sook Chung, a professor with the NOAA Living Marine Resources
Cooperative Science Center at UMES, will provide models to study the toxicity
of new formations at the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology in
Baltimore.
Volkis
will also collaborate with agencies outside of UMES where students will do site
visits to learn new research techniques.
The Wye Research and Education Center in Queenstown, Maryland, will grow
specialty crops and medicinal herbs such as aronia, goldenberry, hemp, hops and
holy basil. Dr. Evgueni Nesterov in the
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Northern Illinois University will
study surface characterization.
By
the end of the three-year grant, Volkis, her colleagues and undergraduate and
graduate students working in her organic chemistry research lab aim to have
created antifouling formulations “that are non-toxic or have toxicity much
lower than current biocides, are easy to manufacture and apply, and utilize organic
renewable sources of materials.” In the
process, Volkis said, students will have benefitted from participating in a
high-tech interdisciplinary research program with real-life implications.
Two
graduate students who are U.S. citizens will be hired for the duration of the
grant from among the pool of applicants for UMES programs in toxicology,
chemistry and marine-estuarine-and-environmental sciences. Preference, she said, will be given to
students with interests in career pathways with the U.S. Navy or the Department
of Defense. Each graduate student will
have an undergraduate student working with them on a rotating basis who are
U.S. citizens, have taken organic chemistry and have been selected based on
GPA.
“They
will leave UMES better prepared for scientific careers in STEM disciplines and
for matriculation to postdoctoral and industrial positions,” Volkis said. “They will have also learned to work in an
interdisciplinary environment having collaborated with science departments
within and outside of UMES, university Extension outreach programs, farming
communities and other stakeholders.”
“Dr.
Volkis is one of the preeminent researchers at UMES. She has a strong track record of delivering
both detailed and important research results and training the next generation
of scientists from a minority-serving institution,” said Dr. Moses T. Kairo,
dean, UMES School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences.
Gail Stephens, agricultural communications and media
associate, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, School of Agricultural and
Natural Sciences, gstephens@umes.edu,
410-621-3850.
Photos
by Todd Dudek, agricultural commuincations photographer/videographer, University
of Maryland Eastern Shore, School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, tdudek@umes.edu.