This Final Report describes how the Kokes Awards program was carried out for the 2007 meeting with regard to selection of students and disbursement of funds received from DOE and other sources. The objective of the Richard J. Kokes Travel Award program of the American Catalysis Society is to encourage graduate students to attend and participate meaningfully in the biennial North American Catalysis Society Meeting.

At the request of the University Materials Council, a national workshop was convened to examine 'Gender Equity Issues in Materials Science and Engineering.' The workshop considered causes of the historic underrepresentation of women in materials science and engineering (MSE), with a goal of developing strategies to increase the gender diversity of the discipline in universities and national laboratories. Specific workshop objectives were to examine efforts to level the playing field, understand implicit biases, develop methods to minimize bias in all aspects of training and employment, and create the means to implement a broadly inclusive, family-friendly work environment in MSE departments. Held May 18-20, 2008, at the Conference Center at the University of Maryland, the workshop included heads and chairs of university MSE departments and representatives of the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Office of Basic Energy Sciences of the Department of Energy (DOE-BES), and the national laboratories. The following recommendations are made based on the outcomes of the discussions at the workshop. Many or all of these apply equally well to universities and national laboratories and should be considered in context of industrial environments as well. First, there should be a follow-up process by which the University Materials Council (UMC) …

The Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) conducted an evaluation of alternative technologies for remediation of hydrocarbon-contaminated coal seam, including impacted soils and groundwater in Garrison, North Dakota. Geotechnical characteristics of the impacted fractured coal seam provide for rapid off-site contaminant transport, with the currently identified impacted zone covering an area of about 40 acres. Regardless of the exposure mechanism (free, dissolved, or vapor phase), results of laboratory tests confirmed secondary release of gasoline-based compounds from contaminated coal to water reaching concentrations documented from the impacted areas. Coal laboratory tests confirmed low risks associated with spontaneous ignition of gasoline-contaminated coal. High contaminant recovery efficiency for the vacuum-enhanced recovery pilot tests conducted at three selected locations confirmed its feasibility for full-scale remediation. A total of 3500 gallons (13.3 m{sup 3}) of contaminated groundwater and over 430,000 ft{sup 3} (12,200 m{sup 3}) of soil vapor were extracted during vacuum-enhanced recovery testing conducted July 17-24, 2007, resulting in the removal of about 1330 lb (603 kg) of hydrocarbons, an equivalent of about 213 gallons of product. The summary of project activities is as follows: (1) Groundwater and vapor monitoring for existing wells, including domestic wells, conducted on a monthly basis from December 12, …

Field sampling was conducted by the Energy & Environmental Research Center at two Lafarge North America cement kiln locations in Canada. Emissions including SO{sub x}, NO{sub x}, and particulate were measured and reported at various locations throughout the kilns. At each site data were collected on two kilns during field sampling. However, only Kiln 1 at the Ravena site was utilized for modeling efforts. Experimental work was then conducted to estimate the effectiveness of various NO{sub x} control techniques on limiting both NO{sub x} and SO{sub x} emissions in cement kiln exhaust. Theory-based models were constructed to estimate both NO{sub x} and SO{sub x} emissions from cement kilns. These models were then applied to estimating the impact of various NO{sub x} control strategies on kiln exhaust emissions. The sulfur model constructed as part of this work was successful at predicting SO{sub 2} emissions and sulfur capture in the Alpena kiln. This model is designed to run as a postprocessing step that uses the output of a NO{sub x} model as input. With an accurate NO{sub x} model, the sulfur model may prove to be a valuable tool in estimating the impact of kiln modifications on sulfur emissions. The NO{sub x} …

The availability of the complete DNA sequence of the bacterial genome of Nitrosomonas europaea offered the opportunity for unprecedented and detailed investigations of function. We studied the function of genes involved in carbohydrate and Fe metabolism. N. europaea has genes for the synthesis and degradation of glycogen and sucrose but cannot grow on substrates other than ammonia and CO2. Granules of glycogen were detected in whole cells by electron microscopy and quantified in cell-free extracts by enzymatic methods. The cellular glycogen and sucrose content varied depending on the composition of the growth medium and cellular growth stage. N. europaea also depends heavily on iron for metabolism of ammonia, is particularly interesting since it lacks genes for siderophore production, and has genes with only low similarity to known iron reductases, yet grows relatively well in medium containing low Fe. By comparing the transcriptomes of cells grown in iron-replete medium versus iron-limited medium, 247 genes were identified as differentially expressed. Mutant strains deficient in genes for sucrose, glycogen and iron metabolism were created and are being used to further our understanding of ammonia oxidizing bacteria.

Research on the effects of wetland restoration on reptiles and amphibians is becoming more common, but almost all of these studies have observed the colonization of recently disturbed habitats that were completely dry at the time of restoration. In a similar manner, investigations herpetofaunal responses to forest management have focused on clearcuts, and less intensive stand manipulations are not as well studied. To evaluate community and population responses of reptiles and amphibians to hydrology restoration and canopy removal in the interior of previously degraded Carolina bays, I monitored herpetofauna in the uplands adjacent to six historically degraded Carolina bays at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina for four years after restoration. To evaluate the effects of forest thinning on upland herpetofauna, forests were thinned in the margins of three of these bays. I used repeated measures ANOVA to compare species richness and diversity and the abundance of selected species and guilds between these bays and with those at three reference bays that were not historically drained and three control bays that remained degraded. I also used Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling (NMDS) to look for community-level patterns based treatments.

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