CAREER: Metabolomics-Enabled Approaches to Advance Characterization of Organic Matter Trapping in Natural and Engineered Matrices

Cornell University, Ithaca NY

Investigators

Abstract

1653092 Aristilde The key objective of this project is to investigate the mechanisms underlying the trapping of organic contaminants at mineral surfaces. This trapping controls transformation and transport rates within lake and river sediments, soil subsurfaces, landfills, and water filtration systems. The overarching goal of the proposed research is to develop a new approach that combines experimental and computational methods to obtain insights at the molecular scale into the trapping of organic contaminants within complex organo-mineral mixtures. The research findings will advance a new theoretical framework for addressing solid waste treatment and long-term organic matter sequestration in lake and river environments. The PI will investigate organic matter structures at mineral surfaces that drive the trapping of organic contaminants. The research activities are built on the PI's expertise in surface spectroscopy, molecular biology, and computational simulations and will exploit recent advances in mass spectrometry and metabolomics for the molecular fingerprinting of biological systems. The PI will exploit a novel application of metabolomics as adopted from the field of molecular biology towards filling an important knowledge gap in environmental engineering processes: elucidating the supramolecular chemistry that governs the trapping of organic contaminants and natural organic matter within organo-mineral matrices. Limitations in this molecular depiction have prevented a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms responsible for the sequestration of organic contaminants within natural and engineered soil environments. The research goals are to develop a transformative mechanistic understanding of: (1) the hierarchy of assembled biomolecules on mineral surfaces; (2) the evolution of the trapping of organic contaminants within organo-mineral complexes; and, (3) the supramolecular architecture of biomolecular assemblies encapsulating contaminants at mineral interfaces. The outreach activities will be aimed at increasing the public literacy of the molecular-scale and nanoscale processes that drive the fate of organic matter and organic contaminants with relevance to public and ecosystem health. This task will be achieved through the implementation of a newly-designed program entitled ScENE VI: Scientific Explorations of the Natural Environment from the Visible to the Invisible. This program will be integrated with established partnerships with the local hands-on science museum Sciencenter, the Cornell cooperative extension office in New York City, the Cornell Occupational and Environmental Health, and the New York Department of Conservation. The activities through ScENE VI aim to provide interactive activities for young museum visitors and underrepresented teens of NYC 4-H youth development program.