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The Mitsui & Co. Environment Fund

Introduction to Grant Projects

Hokkaido University Graduate School of Engineering Division of Environmental Engineering Satoshi Ishii, Assistant Professor

Evaluating the impact of migratory birds on water pollution in agricultural land ecosystems and creating measures to reduce this pollution

Research grant

Project Description

There are concerns that migratory birds are polluting aquatic ecosytsems. This project will conduct research on the worsening water quality of the Miyajimanuma wetlands in Bibai, Hokkaido, which is an important stopping point in the migration of greater white-fronted geese, and use the results as a basis for forming policy. By bringing together cutting-edge techniques from a variety of fields, it will conduct a quantitative evaluation of the impact of goose excrement and agricultural drainage on the swamp's water quality and propose methods for improving this quality. It will also conduct environmental education to deepen local resident's understanding of the issue.

Grant year
FY2013 Research Grants
Grant term
3 years
April 2014 - March 2017
Grant amount
9,000,000 yen
Activity region
Miyajimanuma, Bibai, Hokkaido, Japan
Miyajimanuma filled with greater white-fronted geese. During peak season it accomodates more than 70,000 birds.

Overview of the Organization

Satoshi Ishii, Assistant Professor
Representative
Satoshi Ishii, Assistant Professor
Profile
Specialist fields
Environmental microbiology, microbial ecology
Affiliated academic societies
Japan Society on Water Environment, the Japanese Society of Microbial Ecology, the International Society on Microbial Ecology, the American Society for Microbiology
Background
Participated in research on the propogation and survival of E.coli in soil and aquatic environments as part of a doctoral course on soil science at the University of Minnesota, US, receiving a doctorate in 2007. Then participated in the detection, quantification and isolation of denitrifying microbes in rice field soil as a specially appointed assistant professor at the University of Tokyo's Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences. Has been participating in the detection and quantification of pathogens in environmental water samples and the physiological definition of microbes in the nitrogen cycle as an assistant professor at Hokkaido University's Graduate School of Engineering since 2011.
WEB site
http://www.eng.hokudai.ac.jp/labo/water/
Co-researchers
Katsumi Ushiyama (Miyajinuma Waterbird & Wetlands Center), Hiroyuki Yamada (Hokkaido University Research Faculty of Agriculture), Nobutake Nakatani and Sumire Sakai (Rakuno Gakuen University College of Agriculture, Food and Environment Sciences), Takahiro Segawa (National Institute of Polar Research), Daisuke Sano and Satoshi Okabe (Hokkaido University Graduate School of Engineering)
Research record
  • (1) Ishii, S., Segawa, T., and Okabe, S. "Simultaneous quantification of multiple food and waterborne pathogens by use of microfluidic quantitative PCR." Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 79, 2891-2898. (2013)
  • (2) Byappanahalli, M. N., and Ishii, S. "Environmental sources of fecal bacteria." In: M. J. Sadowsky and R. L. Whitman (ed.) 93 110. The Fecal Bacteria. ASM Press, Washington, DC. (2011)
  • (3) Hansen, D.L., Ishii, S., Sadowsky, M.J., and Hicks, R. E. "Waterfowl abundance does not predict the dominant avian source of beach" Escherichia coli. Journal of Environmental Quality, 40, 1924-1931. (2011)