I am involved with the Microbiology and Biotechnology courses offered to the Applied Chemistry and Biology students. The second year Microbiology course introduces to students all forms of microbial life and ways to study them. I teach the sections on microbial genetics and applications in microbiology (BLG251). This course is followed by the third year Biotechnology course (BLG307) which emphasizes molecular biology techniques and then the fourth year course in applications of biotechnology (BLG407). Laboratory exercises accompany the microbiology course and the applications in biotechnology course. Biotechnology is a fascinating area in which to teach since it is rapidly evolving and much of the current medical, agricultural, and industrial research involves biotechnology in some way.

I am a molecular microbiologist. I use a variety of molecular techniques to study the genetics and physiology of bacteria. Currently, my primary focus is on the composition and diversity of the microbial population of wastewater treatment systems. Specifically, my work involves the isolation of DNA from bacterial communities found in treatment systems and the amplification of DNA markers that can be used to create DNA fingerprints of the systems.

One project has concentrated on the biotreatment systems of pulp and paper mills. The molecular techniques such as 16S-RFLP, Rep-PCR, and RISA were used to generate genotypic profiles of bacterial populations from several pulp mill biotreatment systems. We found that all 3 methods could distinguish between populations from different mills yet only the Rep-PCR analysis produced enough resolution to differentiate between temporal samples from the same mill. These results suggest that each mill has an unique population within its biotreatment system that is highly stable under normal operating parameters. Furthermore, upon culturing of isolates, we found that each mill was dominated by an unique culturable community that was mutually exclusive from the other mills. 16S-RNA gene libraries were generated from two mills and provide the first insight into the vast diversity of the biotreatment systems.

The overall goal of my research is to better understand complex bacterial communities. It aims to relate the phylogenetic composition and genetic/functional capability of the microbial community to process parameters and general proficiency of the systems. Such information is necessary to improve process design and management practices in biotreatment systems.

I am involved with the Women in Engineering Committee at Ryerson. This committee was establishes in 1989 to promote the engineering field to women. The committee initiated a summer camp for women called Discover Engineering in the summer of 1991. Its goal is to introduce young women in high school to the challenges and rewards of engineering through a variety of fun, hands on projects and discussions led by women engineers, scientists, and students. The camp has been very successful with 60% of the camp participants enrolling in engineering university programs. Currently the committee also oversees several other projects including a High School 'Discover Engineering' Workshop program and a One-Day 'Discover Engineering' Career Workshop.

Gilbride, K.A., and R.R. Fulthorp. 2001. Composition and Diversity of the Bacterial Community associated with Pulp Mill Treatment Systems (in preparation)

Baker, C., K.A. Gilbride and R.R. Fulthorpe. 2001 Investigation of Microbial Communities in Pulp and Paper Mill Treatment Systems by DNA Fingerprinting Techniques (submitted)

Zywno, M.S., N. Gudz and K.A. Gilbride. Innovative outreach programs to attract and retain women in undergraduate engineering programs. 2000. Global Journal on Engineering Education. 4:293-302.

Zywno, M.S., K.A. Gilbride, P.D. Hiscocks, J.K. Waalen, and D.C. Kennedy. 1999. Attracting Women into Engineering - a Case Study, IEEE Transactions on Education, November supplement, CD-ROM.

Gilbride, K.A., D. C. Kennedy, J.K. Waalen and M. Zywno. 1999. A Proactive Strategy for Attracting Women into Engineering. Canadaian Journal of Counselling 33:55-65.

Victorio, L., D.G. Allen, Gilbride, K.A. and S.N. Liss, 1996. Rapid monitoring of Metabolic and Biodegradation Activity of Microbial Communities in Wastewater Treatment Systems water Reearch 30: 1077-1086.