ECO-CBET: Sustainability from the Bottom Up: A Holistic Solution to Balancing the N-Cycle

University Of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh PA

Investigators

Abstract

This project addresses the global challenge of rebalancing the nitrogen cycle by developing an innovative, sustainable technology to deliver nitrogen to crop roots more efficiently using minute spherical sacs called liposomes. The goal of the work is to use these liposomes as nitrogen carriers to reduce the amount of nitrogen that is added to farm fields and increase the percentage of nitrogen that is absorbed by the plant. The research is motivated by the immense environmental and human health costs associated with excess nitrogen use, including eutrophication in lakes and coastal waters, associated cyanotoxins produced by algal blooms, greenhouse gas emissions from production of nitrogen-based fertilizer, on-farm greenhouse gas emissions from nitrogen processes, and contaminated drinking water sources. The proposed technology is a holistic solution to address global food challenges by including sustainable and performance design criteria as well as considering the environmental impacts during the design and development stages. The proposed research aims to transform crop production from a net polluting system to a sustainable system and to align the needs of feeding society while protecting its prosperity. The interdisciplinary team of engineers and scientists includes collective expertise in chemical processes, transport phenomena, transport of natural resources in Earth systems, sustainable material design, and systems analyses. The research leverages an emerging chemical process, continuous flow processing, to develop new liposome compositions that result in novel carriers for delivering nitrogen to crops. Isotopically labeled nitrogen-15 will illuminate partitioning and transport of the delivered nitrogen through soil-plant systems. Systems-level analysis will be integrated throughout the project to inform material choice, processing decisions, and feasibility assessment. Results from greenhouse studies will inform the nutrient carrier performance in terms of crop production and reducing leached nitrogen. These data will be used in a watershed model to project positive ecosystem impacts. The team will also develop initiatives that educate and train students across disciplinary silos in a convergent, collaborative environment through an interdisciplinary approach to mentoring, learning, and research. The research team will engage with stakeholders through the Pittsburgh Collaboratory for Water Research, Education, and Outreach, housed at the University of Pittsburgh (a network of over 100 governmental, non-governmental, advocacy, academic partner organizations, and over 300 individual water stakeholders), and the public through programming at the University of Pittsburgh’s field station, Pymatuning Lab of Ecology, in the Shenango River watershed. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.