Turn Mushrooms into Stormwater Treatment Tools – $29,629.00
Existing stormwater treatment facilities only temporarily retain heavy metal and barely remove any pathogen. The mycelial networks of mushroom expand to thousands of acres in size, which is a testimonial to its potential to be used as an effective stormwater filtration membrane on soil surface. This proposed study will leverage the hyperaccumulation capacity of fungi for heavy metal removal and verify the possibility of fungal predation of bacteria for pathogen control. We foresee that novel fungal systems can be deployed surrounding farms, factories, roads or urban areas to confine and remove pollutants contained in stormwater runoff.
Dr. Zhiwu Wang
Assistant Professor of Civil Environmental Engineering
Dr. Changwoo Ahn
Professor of Environmental Science
Dr. Xixi Wang
Associate Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering
Dr. Fernando Tenjo
Associate Professor of Biology