FEW NSF Workshop: Closing the Human Phosphorus Cycle

University Of Hawaii At Hilo, Hilo HI

Investigators

Abstract

The Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry Program of the Division of Chemistry is sponsoring this workshop entitled "FEW NSF Workshop: Closing the Human Phosphorus Cycle" to be held on June 8-9, 2015 in Arlington, Virginia. Phosphorus is an element that is essential to all life. The human body contains phosphorus concentrated largely in bones and teeth and in essential biomolecules, including DNA (genetic materials), phospholipids (a major component of cell membranes) and ATP (for energy transport in cells). To build and maintain these materials, humans must ingest at least 0.7 g of phosphorus each day. Importantly, phosphorus is also essential for crops and livestocks and thus large amounts of phosphorus have been mobilized to raise soil fertility. However, great uncertainty surrounds current estimates of phosphate rock reserves. Ironically, while concerns about phosphorus scarcity have been increasing in recent years, so have concerns about the accumulation of human waste and farm-derived fertilizer that stimulates the growth of algae, including toxic forms that contaminates our drinking water supplies. Prof. Matthew Platz (University of Hawaii at Hilo) and Prof. James J. Elser (Arizona State University) co-organize a workshop to advance scalable science and engineering that will define the underlying science that must be advanced to facilitate more efficient phosphorus use in food production, as well as economically viable recovery and recycling of phosphorus at various points in the food system. The benefits of success of this workshop, and the funding and implementation of the research agenda so defined, are enormous: fertilizer food security for the 9-10 billion people expected to inhabit the earth later this century and the protection of freshwater ecosystems necessary for their water supply. The goals of the title workshop are to facilitate the interactions and collaborations of chemists with life-, geo- and social scientists and engineers and define interdisciplinary research opportunities for scientists who wish to explore the nexus of food, water and energy as it applies to the critical issue of closing the phosphorous cycle. The specific objectives of the workshop include developing a trans-disciplinary understanding of fundamental chemical processes that transpire in soils, sediments, water systems, plants and animals and constitute the pathways of phosphorous utilization and disposal within nature; brainstorming about ways to design, synthesize and evaluate new chemicals and materials that can sense phosphate ions and that can sequester and release phosphate ions on demand; and deciding upon how the stakeholder scientific disciplines (physical sciences, geologic sciences, engineering, life sciences and social sciences) can collaborate on computational, experimental, and data mining approaches to solving research problems.