A new IGB research project seeks to solve a $90 billion global problem in the oil industry while making oil drilling less harmful to the environment.    

Bruce Fouke, Professor in the departments of Geology and Microbiology and director of the Roy J. Carver Biotechnology Center, was awarded a three-year grant from the Dow Chemical Company to study a process known as oil field biosouring. Fouke is also an IGB faculty member in the Biocomplexity research theme.