At UVU we recognize that our strength lies in our differences, and we’re committed to fostering an environment where every voice in the community is heard, every perspective is valued, and every opportunity is accessible. Our mission is to build technology that is socially responsible, as well as friendly with the environment. We commit to cultivate an atmosphere where local and economically challenged populations bloom and spread their unique talents in order to foster a sense of belonging and create a culture of openness, understanding, and continuous learning.

Utah Valley University acknowledges that we gather on land sacred to all Indigenous people who came before us in this vast crossroads region. The University is committed to working in partnership—as enacted through education and community activities—with Utah’s Native Nations comprising: the San Juan Southern Paiute, Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, Uintah & Ouray Reservation of the Northern Ute, Skull Valley Goshute, Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation, Northwestern Band of Shoshone Nation, Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation, Ute Mountain Ute-White Mesa Community, and urban Indian communities. We recognize these Native Nations and their continued connections with traditional homelands, mountains, rivers, and lakes as well as their sovereign relationships with state and federal governments. We honor their collective memory and continued physical and spiritual presence. We revere their resilience and example in preserving their connections to the Creator and to all their relations, now and in the future. There is much work to be done, and we are committed to putting these words into practice.

The UVU registered student population for the 2023 school year was 44,653, with 927 majoring in Biology Department programs. Of the total number of registered students, 20% identified as people of color, 28% as adult learners (25 years or older), and 50% identified as women. Only 1% of the UVU student population consists of international students. One third of our iGEM team are racially minoritized individuals and 1 international student, which is substantially more than the university as a whole. Higher education institutions in the state of Utah typically have a higher rate of students over 24 years old and our team is composed of 60% in this age group. The one area we must improve upon is the number of women on our team. Although the female population of UVU students is 50%, we have only 33%. This is reflective of the number of women majoring in subjects in the College of Science, but this does not reflect the numbers we see in the Biotechnology Program within the college. We will be focusing our efforts on increasing our team members identifying as women in the future.

In addition, we aim for international cooperation and contribute to efforts that battle pollution on lakes worldwide. Given that our project focuses on algae blooms we researched lakes in other countries that struggle with similar problems. One example is lake Xochimilco in Mexico City. Algae blooms in Lake Xochimilco are a significant environmental concern that affects the region’s unique ecosystem and cultural heritage. Xochimilco is renowned for its extensive network of canals, which are remnants of the ancient Aztec agricultural system known as “chinampas.”

One of the primary drivers of algae blooms in Xochimilco is nutrient pollution, particularly from agricultural runoff and untreated wastewater. Excessive nutrients, especially nitrogen and phosphorus, promote the rapid growth of algae. The presence of these blooms degrades water quality, makes it unsafe, and affects the livelihoods of local fishermen and farmers who rely on clean water for their crops and fish. These canals are not only ecologically important for local agriculture, but are also culturally significant. Algae blooms can detract from the beauty of the area and negatively impact tourism and traditional practices of the local communities.

Current efforts to address this problem have been upgrading the wastewater treatment facilities and implementing better management practices for agricultural runoff. However, the results of these solutions have been short-lived. One of the reasons has been that the local community hasn’t been involved as much in the monitoring and managing of the lake’s water quality. By partnering the local community, the water treatment industry, along with biotechnology enterprises, we can foster not only a sustainable solution that will work on the long run, but also stewardship that can help locals care for their people and their land. Ongoing research efforts will help better understand the dynamics of algae blooms and their triggers, as well as ways to tackle them.

Our team’s commitment to our underserved Utah Valley communities

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) in Utah’s lakes, reservoirs, rivers, ponds and other bodies of water occur yearly and often last for around 6 months. HABs cause serious illness in people and have even proven fatal to pets who play in the toxic water or come in contact with blooms washed up on the shore.

Reporting dangerous outbreaks to the CDC is voluntary in the U.S. with only 32% of states, including Utah, reporting yearly. The reported human illnesses, in the hundreds, and animal illnesses and deaths, in the thousands, is vastly underestimated. All 50 states create their own guidelines for dealing with HABs, with no national comprehensive plan in sight. In Utah and around the nation, we need effective laws regulating farm fertilizer runoff and wastewater treatment management. In Utah, recreational water is routinely tested, and maps are continuously updated to warn the public of dangerous blooms.

People have lived in the Great Basin region (including Utah) for at least 20,000 years. The Pre-Clovis, Clovis, and Freemont people were the earliest groups to thrive there. The ancestors of the Shoshone and Paiute arrived next followed by the ancestors of the Navajo (Dine) and Apache and later the Goshute peoples. For generations, Shoshone bands celebrated the annual fish festival around Utah Lake.

The Timpanogos Nation first encountered Europeans (Spanish) briefly in the late 18th century. In 1847, Mormon pioneers settled nearby in Salt Lake Valley and 2 years later, broke agreements with the Timpanogos Nation’s chiefs and established settlements around Utah Lake. This encroachment caused a deadly measles outbreak, violence, and introduction of invasive fish species to Utah Lake. The repercussions of these times are still felt today. Many of the indigenous people joined other bands and were relocated to reservations while the Timpanogos Nation is still not recognized by the United States federal government.

During the next century, white settlers changed the water landscape drastically and irreversibly. After all the river and tributary rerouting and the massive increase in settlements around Utah Lake, inflow of water decreased substantially while sewage, industrial waste, and agricultural run-off flooded the lake with contaminants. Native fish populations dramatically declined from overfishing, and invasive fish and plant species thrived to the detriment of the natural ecosystem. At one point in the 1930s, the lake even went completely dry.

In the decades following, water was taken from the Colorado River and state and federal regulations were implemented to control water diversions from the lake and to monitor water quality and treat wastewater. There are currently several groups attempting to increase the numbers of the native fish, the June Sucker, and eliminate the devastating carp and phragmites that thrive in the lake. Plants and microorganisms that once kept the lake free of HABs are no longer able to clean the lake of nutrients used by the toxic species. Utah Lake is nothing like what the Timpanogos people used for their livelihood and ceremonies, by caring for the lake and its ecosystem.

It is very telling that HABs occur where wastewater treatment plants discharge into Utah Lake.  The lake is approximately 145 square miles, the 3rd largest lake in the western United States, yet only certain areas are plagued by persistent algal blooms. The types of phosphorous and nitrogen compounds that are entering the lake from agriculture and wastewater treatment plants are exactly the type of bioavailable compounds that the cyanobacteria causing the blooms need to proliferate exponentially.

The information above is intended to highlight the problems we as privileged people have wrought upon the underserved members of our community. Many lower-income individuals are compelled to provide contaminated food for their themselves or their families by fishing in Utah Lake. Many families cannot travel for fishing or recreation to the uncontaminated rivers, lakes, and reservoirs that are much farther away. The lack of clean water and the relocation of native peoples prevents community engagement, diverse cultural interactions, and safe rearing of the children who rely on the lake for nourishment.

Our team had 2 unique opportunities to engage with a group of native high school students and talk about our project and the power of synthetic biology to address problems that have a unique impact on the lands they have called home for generations. While researching the impact of our growing population on indigenous communities, we learned as much as we could about the Navajo (Dine) people living in Utah. We were careful not to incorporate practices in our education and outreach activities that we tend to take for granted but are not acceptable to their culture. For example, we converted our DNA isolation exercise from collecting samples from the body (cheek cells from saliva) to a non-human source, strawberries, when visiting the Richfield Residential Hall (a Dine high school). When touring the UVU Herbarium, whose director teaches classes on anti-colonialism, the Richfield students were taught about the collaboration between the director and the Dine Nations’ leaders to ensure no sacred or indigenous people’s lands were damaged or trespassed upon to collect plant samples.

The UVU iGEM team is committed to all people (and animals) who enjoy Utah Lake and all it can offer. Through education, outreach, human practices, and good science, we are determined to make a positive impact on all of our community, regardless of their ancestry or socio-economic status.