Description: Nutrient export from crop fertilizer application via subsurface tile drainage results in water quality damage and potential harm to downstream communities on a local and global scale. Woodchip bioreactors are an upcoming edge-of-field technology that hold great promise as a designed method of denitrifying water. Although we know that woodchip bioreactors are an effective conservation tool, we are not sure which microbes are responsible for denitrification. A controlled laboratory project was used to compare the microbial communities within woodchip and corncob bioreactors with the goal of understanding bioreactor performance in terms of greenhouse gas production and nitrate removal,

Author: Taylor Vroman (Iowa State University)*

Author Bio: I am a third year Environmental Science Ph.D. student at Iowa State University in the Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Department studying under Dr. Michelle Soupir. My work focuses on understanding the microbiome of denitrifying bioreactors as a part of a larger effort to enhance bioreactor performance and improve water quality in the Midwest.