IT IS CURRENTLY UNCLEAR HOW THE CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL PROCESSES THAT CONTROL THE TRANSFORMATIONS AND ULTIMATE FATE OF ZEIN NANOPARTICLES (ZNPS) AFTER INTRODUCTION INTO THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT WILL AFFECT THEIR TOXICITY AND EFFICACY AS DELIVERY SYSTEMS IN NANO-AGRICULTURAL APPLICATIONS. NANOMATERIAL PROPERTIES, INCLUDING COMPOSITION, SIZE, MORPHOLOGY, SURFACE PROPERTIES, AND HYDROPHOBICITY ARE LIKELY TO SIGNIFICANTLY INFLUENCE THE FATE AND MECHANISMS OF ADHESION, UPTAKE AND TRANSLOCATION OF THESE PARTICLES. WHILE MANY ORGANIC NANOPARTICLES ARE ASSUMED TO BE BIODEGRADABLE AND NON-TOXIC BASED ON THEIR GRAS CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS, THEY MIGHT HAVE UNKNOWN SHORT AND LONG-TERM IMPACTS ON BIOLOGICAL ENTITIES WITH WHICH THEY INTERACT. IT IS THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT TO STUDY AND PROVIDE DATA OF THE FATE AND INTERACTION MECHANISMS OF ZNPS AS A FUNCTION OF DIFFERENT ZNP SURFACE PROPERTIES (POSITIVE, NEGATIVE AND NEUTRAL), ON CROP PLANTS (E.G. SOYBEANS) AND IN THREE TYPES OF INSECTS THAT WILL BE CRUCIAL FOR SAFE APPLICATIONS OF ZNPS TO INCREASE YIELD, MINIMIZE NEGATIVE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT, AND INCREASE OVERALL EFFICIENCY IN AGROINDUSTRY.