THE DEMAND FOR FRESH WATER AND FARMABLE LAND TO PRODUCE THE WORLD'S FOOD SUPPLY CONTINUES TO GROW WHILE THE AVAILABILITY OF BOTH CONTINUES TO DECREASE. DESPITE THE ADVANCEMENT OF MODERN AGRICULTURE TECHNIQUES, PROTEIN IS EXPECTED TO BECOME A LIMITING NUTRIENT IN THE NEAR FUTURE AND ALTERNATIVES TO OIL SEEDS AND LEGUMES ARE NEEDED. MICROALGAE OFFERS ONE SUCH ALTERNATIVE, HOWEVER TO DATE IT HAS PRIMARILY BEEN GROWN USING THE SAME, LIMITED FRESHWATER RESOURCES AS WELL AS FOSSIL-FUEL DERIVED NUTRIENTS. SOME HAVE PROMOTED THE USE OF VARIOUS WASTEWATERS AS A WATER AND NUTRIENT SOURCE FOR MICROALGAE GROWTH, HOWEVER THE BROADER IMPACTS OF THIS APPROACH HAVE NOT BEEN DETERMINED, SPECIFICALLY WITH REGARD TO HOW THE MICROALGAE MAY CHANGE THE BIOAVAILABILITY, TOXICITY, AND VOLATILITY OF METALS PRESENT IN THE WASTEWATERS. MICROALGAE HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO METHYLATE SEVERAL HARMFUL METALS AND METALLOIDS, WHICH CAN INCREASE THEIR VOLATILITY AND SUBSEQUENT POTENTIAL FOR RELEASE TO THE ENVIRONMENT.THIS PROJECT WILL QUANTIFY THE RELEASE AND OR BIOACCUMULATION OF HARMFUL METHYLATED METALS THAT MAY BE RELEASED DURING MICROALGAE CULTIVATION OR MAY BE CONCENTRATED AND RELEASED DURING HARVESTING AND PROCESSING. THE WORK WILL FOCUS ON FOUR IMPORTANT METALS (MERCURY, ARSENIC, SELENIUM, AND CADMIUM) THAT CAN BE FOUND IN WASTEWATERS USED FOR GROWING MICROALGAE. THE PROJECT WILL USE SMALL, CONTROLLED GROWTH EXPERIMENTS WITH THE METALS SPIKED IN TO DETERMINE THE RATES OF PRODUCTION AND RELEASE OF METHYLATED METALS TO THE WATER AND AIR, AS WELL AS HOW MUCH IS RETAINED BY THE MICROALGAE SPECIES. THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF THE PROJECT IS TO IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE METALS FOUND IN THE WASTEWATER WHEN IT IS USED TO GROW MICROALGAE. KNOWLEDGE OF THE FATE AND TRANSPORT OF METHYLATED METAL SPECIES IS VITAL FOR POLICY DEVELOPMENT ON HOW THE RESIDUAL BIOMASS AND WASTE WATERS FROM MICROALGAE BIOFUEL PRODUCTION CAN SAFELY BE INTEGRATED INTO AGRICULTURE PRACTICES FOR LAND-APPLIED FERTILIZER, ANIMAL FEEDS, OR IRRIGATION.