I stopped by Professor David Dornbos’s office on a Thursday afternoon to ask about his research this summer.  All I knew of the project was what I had absorbed from his research student, Jennie Heidmann, as she presented her poster a few weeks ago; namely, I knew that it involved invasive plants that had to be cut down at a certain time for some kind of harvesting.  Other than that, everything was new territory.  So, Professor Dornbos started explaining from ground zero…

“I’d spent five years learning how to kill off these invasive species to restore ecosystems on Calvin’s campus,” Dornbos shared about his previous research.   “After realizing that it seemed to be a losing battle (the invasive species always outgrew the native plants), I began asking different questions.  I mean, I’m at Calvin.  So, I started wondering if maybe they [the invasive plants] could be redeemed.  I wanted to know if we could use these unwanted plants that outgrew the native varieties to our advantage.” Professor Dornbos laughed as he recollected the thought process that led him to his new project.  It may be all “tongue and cheek” as he says, but the question of redemption put him on the trail of an exciting new area of research that works to answer problems with unhealthy soil organic carbon levels by using pest plants and with biofuel sources.

Briefly, Professor Dornbos’ and Jennie Heidmann’s project involves using the invasive species Buckthorn and Autumn olive to replenish soil organic carbon and harvest the plants as biomass for producing cellulosic ethanol.  To understand the innovation of this idea, you need to know some background.

First, why the concern about organic carbon levels in soil?  Soil organic carbon, or the carbon source for plant growth and production of all its biological compounds, is used as a means to measure the overall healthy of soil. When crops like corn or wheat grow on a plot of land, they dramatically deplete the amount of the carbon in the soil when they use it to grow and produce our necessary food sources.  A healthy level of carbon would be 5%, but many soils, especially old farmlands have about 1-1.5%.  This means that the land is not useful for producing food crops and needs to lie fallow for years before it can reestablish healthy carbon levels.

Now here comes the interesting fact: the root systems of invasive species can help increase the rate at which soil organic carbon levels increase.  So, growing these “pest plants” actually improves the soil quality mentioned above.  This lowers the need for nitrogen fertilizers produced from fossil fuels that pollute water systems.  It also means that these plants allow carbon sequestration by putting carbon back in the soil.  As political awareness about global warming and humanity’s carbon footprint increases, demonstrated by films like “A Unavoidable Truth” and international treaties like Kyoto Protocol, interest in carbon sequestration is becoming a buzzword/phrase.  Therefore, reintroducing carbon back to the ground using these plants means improvement of soil quality, reduction of fertilizers, and deduction of our carbon footprint.  Excellent.

The second aspect of reforming Buckthorn and Autumn olive in useful plants is using them as a source of cellulosic ethanol.  As a biofuel, ethanol makes up 10% of regular gasoline.  Most of this ethanol is derived from corn grain, which threatens food security and is not an efficient use of a crop that removes so much carbon from the soil.  In lieu of using corn grain or husks, which further degrades soil by using the decomposing matter that replenishes it, what about using the invasive species?  Dornbos wondered how Buckthorn and Autumn olive performed as producers of cellulosic ethanol, and how they compared to the invasive species switchgrass, a warm season grass native to Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas.

To answer their questions, Jennie measured both the rate of photosynthesis (or how much biomass was produced) and ran extractions to find how much ethanol the invasive plants made.  “Jennie’s a really good organic chemist, which helped her when doing the cellulose extraction procedure.  After an ethanol extraction and acid hydrolysis, the remainder is made into derivatives and analyzed by gas chromatography (GC).  Jennie is presently working on this final step.

Professor Dornbos and Jennie are excited about the initial findings from the project.  However, their work continues as they fully analyze how well Buckthorn and Autumn olive plants increase soil organic carbon and produce biomass.  We will have to wait for the answer of possible redemption for these invasive plants.

As an interdisciplinary effort with the Chemical Engineering Department, Professor Dornbos’s project is funded by a grant from HHMI through the Integrated Science Research Institute (ISRI). 

by Suzanna Lynch, 2010 biochemistry major

The fall semester is well underway and students are finally getting into the rhythm of college life; the upperclassmen are getting used to their usual routine again, and the freshmen are adjusting to and figuring out the challenges of post-secondary education. One particular group of freshmen in the biology program has stepped up to an additional academic challenge; they are involved in a special introductory biology class that involves research on bacteriophages. This new and exciting addition to our biology curriculum is taught by professors Randy DeJong and John Wertz and was started because Calvin was awarded an HHMI grant. The research is funded by the Science Education Alliance (SEA) in partnership with the National Genomics Research Institute (NGRI).

So now that the students are into their research, what do they have to say about all of this? When asked about her feelings on the class as a whole, one student named Larissa Osterbaan shared that the class is a great overall experience, and the professors are very approachable. She and one of her peers, Anna Plantinga, both agreed that the class is excellent for teaching the students how to work independently and be responsible for their own research. It also teaches them important skills such as keeping a proper lab notebook. There’s a lot to be said about learning all of this right at the beginning of one’s college career!

By far the most common student response to this class, however, is excitement about the hands-on learning that takes place. The students are really into the research and they say that the interactive nature of the class makes it so much fun. It really brings out the best in introductory biology. Professors enjoy the class too, and they see it as beneficial to the students.  Professor Randy DeJong expressed his excitement about how much the students have grown not only in their love of the material, but in their independence and ability to be responsible for their own experiments. Everyone involved in the class anticipates that it will continue to be a favorite class throughout the semester.

by Rachel Abma, 2011 biology major