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SALT LAKE CITY -- Go looking for some basic answers about how the Great Salt Lake works and you're likely to come up empty-handed.
That lack of scientific research on the country's largest lake west of the Mississippi is part of what's driving the creation of the Great Salt Lake Institute at Westminster College. The institute will become a repository for research, a source for educational materials for teachers and a place to help hash out some of the thorniest issues about the inland sea, supporters said. "This is not just about science, this is all-encompassing," Bonnie Baxter, the institute's director and an associate biology professor, said during a news conference Thursday announcing the institute's creation. The 1,700-square-mile lake -- a remnant of the ancient Bonneville Lake that covered 20,000 square miles of Utah, Nevada and Idaho -- is an important stopping point for migrating birds; a source of commerce, and a sprawling laboratory for learning about species able to survive the extreme salty environment. When Baxter came to Salt Lake City 10 years ago, she was surprised to see how little academic work had been done on the lake. Since then, she and others have pursued research but basic questions remain, including whether there might be hydrogen-producing species in lake that could be used as an energy source or algae that could help produce biofuel. Before that happens, though, scientists need more information on fundamentals such as exactly what role microbes play in the lake and the relationship between brine shrimp and algae. "We see it as a somewhat underappreciated and understudied resource," said Cid Seidelman, Westminster's provost and vice president for academic affairs. The institute will try to take a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach, one of the reasons why a small liberal arts college like Westminster is in a position to host it on its campus, Baxter said. With grants from the U.S. Department of Energy and the Department of Labor, the institute is developing biotechnology internships, research projects for undergraduate students at Westminster and educational programs for elementary, middle and high school students. Baxter is reluctant to put tight constraints on the institute's mission, saying she wants it to be flexible and willing to play a role tackling environmental, economic and even social issues facing the lake. That could include finding ways to balance environmental stewardship with oil development, mineral extraction and other commerce on the lake. Baxter says one of the most exciting projects is an effort to sequence the DNA of genes present in water samples taken from the lake, part of a relatively new approach called metagenomics allowing genetic research on organisms that are difficult to culture in a lab. The results of that project and others at the institute will be made public through the institute's Web site. ------ On the Net: www.greatsaltlakeinstitute.org |
