Minnesota native Alonne Brown recently transferred to UW-River Falls and couldn’t be happier with her choice. The junior, who is majoring in Ecology and Organismal Biology, says the university offers far more hands-on experiences than her previous institution.
For example, she used a microscope for the first time in Microbial Ecology 312.
“I really wanted to learn more about microbes,” says Brown, who plans to become a wildlife biologist. “This was one of my harder courses, but I loved everything about it. I appreciated the focus on field work and the lab setting.”
A Hands-on Look at Microbes
The course was developed with Freshwater Collaborative funding in 2021 and runs every fall. Associate Professor Karuna Chintapenta says she wanted to design an alternative course for Biology majors with an Ecology and Organismal Biology emphasis. So, she developed the Microbial Ecology course. This course focuses on environmental microorganisms and how they affect the health of everything — soil, water, humans, plants, animals and even insects. Students explore how the environment shapes microbial communities and how microbes affect the environment.
“All species are dependent on microbes,” Chintapenta says. “I want students to connect the dots.”
Students are put into groups. Throughout the semester, each group collects water samples and biofilms from rocks every three weeks from a designated location. At the end of the semester, students present their data to the entire class.
“The hands-on sample collection gives students experience if they want to work for WDNR or another stakeholder,” Chintapenta says. “They gain an understanding of real-world situations.”
For example, in past years, students explored how microbes could be used to sustainably manage freshwater systems and control phragmites, an invasive wetland grass. They also collected water samples from different lakes and tested organic matter content and oxygen levels. This helped students correlate how agricultural practices, seasonal changes and weather impact water quality in lakes.
December graduate Aj Flatten took the course as part of his Ecological and Organismal Biology major. He says what he learned will help him in a career as a conservation officer.
“I am taking away a lot of knowledge about microbes and how they interact with the environment and human life,” he says. “This will help me answer questions about cyanobacterial blooms or anything else that the public might be concerned about.”
Using Diatoms to Monitor the ‘Kinni’
Chintapenta continues to modify the course based on student feedback. With the latest round of Freshwater Collaborative funding, she is expanding the use of biological tools to monitor water quality. The laboratory component of the course will focus on monitoring the Kinnickinnic River using single-celled algae, called diatoms, as bioindicators. ‘The Kinni’ is a renowned Class I trout stream that runs through River Falls.
Undergraduates will collect biofilms from rocks from different parts of the river and identify various types of diatoms. They will conduct microscopic analysis of their samples and identify the diatom species. Students will then communicate their results with the River Falls community and with the Kinnickinnic River Land Trust.
“This project is unique because we are blending the microbial tools with the macro level water and soil nutrient quality parameters,” Chintapenta says. “This introduces our students to new concepts as well as skills.”
Two students from the course will be hired as summer research interns. They will work with Chintapenta to begin building a database of diatoms that exist in the river. This will help identify patterns between the physical conditions of the river and the types of diatoms present. The database will eventually be publicly accessible. She sees it as a useful resource for the River Falls dam removal project, which UW-River Falls faculty and students are also involved in through the Dam Analysis and Monitoring (DAM) Crew.
“We are collaborating with Kinnickinnic River Land Trust,” she says. “We will work with them and set up resources for the community, which is very focused on health of the trout.”
Written by Heidi Jeter, Freshwater Collaborative