Center for Environmental Biotechnology

The Center for Environmental Biotechnology (CEB), was established in 1986 to foster a multidisciplinary approach for training the next generation of environmental scientists and solving environmental problems through biotechnology. Over the past 22 years, the CEB has distinguished itself as a world leader in developing the interdisciplinary research field of Environmental Biotechnology. The CEB was first in the nation to create a graduate research training program that truly integrates the sciences and engineering disciplines needed to produce trained professionals in the field. This was accomplished through grass root efforts of UT and ORNL faculty and staff with conceptual support by department heads and administrators at UT.

Student Opportunities

The Center for Environmental Biotechnology hosts M.S. and Ph.D. degree seeking graduate students from multiple disciplines including (but not limited to) Microbiology, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Civil & Environmental Engineering, and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Prospective graduate students (i) must apply for graduate admissions to a relevant academic department and (ii) notify the CEB of their intent to conduct their research at CEB. Graduate students are expected to be teaching assistants (GTA) in their first year. Depending on the availability of funds, teaching assistants transition to graduate research assistantships (GRA).

Information on the Graduate School can be found at http://gradschool.utk.edu/default.shtml. Please visit the UTK website for information on academic departments.

Request for Bacterial Strains

The Center for Environmental Biotechnology makes its published bacterial strains available to qualified researchers. Depending on the strain requested, your institution may be asked to sign a Materials Transfer Agreement (MTA). The MTA is designed to protect our intellectual property surrounding certain strains and plasmids. Please download the MTA, fill out the appropriate information, have your institutional representative sign it and return to CEB for processing. Please be very specific in identifying the bacterial strains/plasmids that you are requesting. There is also a $50 shipping and handling fee for all strains requested.
 

Recent News

Dr. Melanie DiClaudio, a CEB research scientist, was one of ten exceptional educators who were chosen to receive the 2009 Early-Career Faculty Travel Award from the American Society for Microbiology Conference for Undergraduate Educators (ASMCUE). Dr. DiClaudio received funding to attend the conference and was formally recognized on May 30, 2009, at a banquet held at ASMCUE in Fort Collins, CO.

CEB has received a 2-year NSF award to develop a proof-of-concept sensor/effector biomimetic interface for closed-loop sense-and-respond biomonitoring of human physiological parameters using thyroid hormone as a demonstrable target. This bioengineering strategy integrates biophotonic sensors with tissue-based cellular bioreporters and microelectronic gene regulatory circuits to create a new sensory technology for autonomous detection, quantification, and countermeasure response to aberrant or out-of-range therapeutic conditions.  Investigators include Drs. Gary Sayler, Steve Ripp, James Fleming, and Stacey Patterson.

 

Recent Publications

Jennifer M. DeBruyn and Gary S. Sayler.   Microbial Community Structure and Biodegradation Activity of Particle-Associated Bacteria in a Coal Tar Contaminated Creek.  Environmental  Science & Technology, 2009, 43 (9), pp 3047–3053

Jennifer M. DeBruyn; Thomas J. Mead; Steven W. Wilhelm; Gary S. Sayler.  PAH Biodegradative Genotypes in Lake Erie Sediments: Evidence for Broad Geographical Distribution of Pyrene-Degrading Mycobacteria.  Environmental  Science & Technology, 2009, 43 (10), pp 3467–3473

Henry, Theodore.B.; Jackson.T. McPherson; Emily D. Rogers; Tze P. Heah; Shawn A. Hawkins; Alice C. Layton;  Gary.S. Sayler.  2009.  Changes in the relative expression pattern of multiple vitellogenin genes in adult male and larval zebrafish exposed to exogenous estrogens.   Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Part A.  154(1):  119-126.

Sanseverino, John; Eldridge, Melanie L.; Layton, Alice C.; Easter, James P.; Yarbrough, Jason; Schultz, Terry Wayne; Sayler, Gary S. 2009. Screening of Potentially Hormonally Active Chemicals Using Bioluminescent Yeast Bioreporters. Toxicological Sciences,  107(1),  122-134.

 

 

Contact Information

The Center for Environmental Biotechnology
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
676 Dabney Hall
Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-1605

For more information concerning CEB, please contact us by e-mail (cebweb@utk.edu) or by phone (865-974-8080).