Faculty member, area teacher awarded grant to form science partnership

A teacher from Cedar Cliff High School in Camp Hill and a Penn State Harrisburg faculty member have become "Partners in Science." Amy Diehl, who is currently pursuing a graduate degree in environmental pollution control from Penn State Harrisburg, and Katherine H. Baker, associate professor of environmental microbiology, have received an award from the Franklin H. and Ruth L. Wells Foundation for a "Partners in Science" program. The program grant will support the two teachers' research over the next two summers. Their project is entitled: "Comparison of Physiological and Molecular Methods for the Determination of Sources of Fecal Pollution." In this study, Baker and Diehl will evaluate and compare three accepted techniques (antibiotic sensitivity profiles, substrate-utilization profiles, and variations in DNA sequences) to develop data bases needed to determine if the techniques are comparable. Samples from known fecal sources (for example, sewage, manure, etc) will be collected and fecal coliforms will be isolated using standard microbiological techniques.
Read the full story at http://www.hbg.psu.edu/hbg/news/baker.html