The recipient of the 2010 International Service Award from Oregon State University, A. Morrie Craig, PhD, is a former director of the endophyte laboratory at the same institution. Morrie Craig has researched the role of ruminant microorganisms and cool-season grasses in cleaning explosive contaminants from soil.
Also known as trinitrotoluene, TNT is a nitrogen-containing explosive compound that is widely used in military shells, grenades, and bombs. In the United States, sites such as military munition training grounds and old explosives factories usually have traces of TNT in the soil due to contamination from munitions testing, training, or the manufacturing process. TNT, and many other explosive remnants when present in the soil, are likely to poison plants or contaminate groundwater. For this reason, a safe and effective clean-up of these chemical remnants has been a crucial topic.
In 2004, A. Morrie Craig discovered that the bacteria present in the stomach of sheep that aid cellulose digestion can also degrade TNT into harmless compounds. This discovery points out that growing pastures in TNT-contaminated areas for future grazing by sheep can help remove explosive remnants from the soil. The grasses absorb these remnants along with nutrients from the soil. When sheep graze on the grasses, the sheep can then convert the remnants into harmless compounds.
Also known as trinitrotoluene, TNT is a nitrogen-containing explosive compound that is widely used in military shells, grenades, and bombs. In the United States, sites such as military munition training grounds and old explosives factories usually have traces of TNT in the soil due to contamination from munitions testing, training, or the manufacturing process. TNT, and many other explosive remnants when present in the soil, are likely to poison plants or contaminate groundwater. For this reason, a safe and effective clean-up of these chemical remnants has been a crucial topic.
In 2004, A. Morrie Craig discovered that the bacteria present in the stomach of sheep that aid cellulose digestion can also degrade TNT into harmless compounds. This discovery points out that growing pastures in TNT-contaminated areas for future grazing by sheep can help remove explosive remnants from the soil. The grasses absorb these remnants along with nutrients from the soil. When sheep graze on the grasses, the sheep can then convert the remnants into harmless compounds.
