**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** THE USE OF PESTICIDES IS INCREASING ACROSS FARMLANDS AS WELL AS IN MORE URBAN SETTINGS SUCH AS ON GOLF COURSES AND LAWNS. HENCE, THERE IS A CRITICAL NEED TO UNDERSTAND THE EXTENT TO WHICH PESTICIDES ARE SPREADING THROUGHOUT THE ENVIRONMENT AND HOW THEY ARE AFFECTING ANIMAL AND HUMAN HEALTH. CURRENTLY, THERE IS NOT A RAPID AND LOW-COST METHOD TO QUANTIFY PESTICIDES IN THE ENVIRONMENT. WATER OR SOIL SAMPLES NEED TO BE COLLECTED, TRANSPORTED, AND PREPARED FOR ANALYSIS IN A LABORATORY. AS MANY PESTICIDE PERSISTENCE IN THE ENVIRONMENT RANGE FROM FOUR HOURS TO DAYS AFTER APPLICATION THESE LABORATORY TECHNIQUES ARE TOO SLOW TO ACCURATELY QUANTIFY PESTICIDE CONCENTRATION. LABORATORY ANALYSIS ALSO REQUIRES COSTLY EQUIPMENT, SUPPLIES, AND HIGHLY TRAINED LABORATORY TECHNICIANS IN ORDER TO PROCESS THE COLLECTED SAMPLES AND QUANTIFY THE PESTICIDES WITHIN THEM. THEREFORE, THESE LABORATORY TECHNIQUES MAKE IT COST PROHIBITIVE TO ANALYZE HUNDREDS OF FIELD SAMPLES THAT ARE NEEDED TO ACCURATELY MAP THE EXTENT OF PESTICIDE DRIFT/RUNOFF IN THE ENVIRONMENT.THIS PROJECT WILL CIRCUMVENT THE NEED TO RELY ON SUCH LABORATORY ANALYSES, BY CREATING LOW-COST SENSORS THAT CAN MONITOR PESTICIDE CONCENTRATIONS IN THE FIELD WHERE SAMPLES ARE COLLECTED. THE SENSORS WORK ELECTROCHEMICALLY AND PROVIDE A DIGITAL READOUT OF THE PESTICIDE CONCENTRATION IN THE SAMPLE. THIS IS THE SAME MANNER IN WHICH HOME GLUCOSE SENSOR OPERATE THAT DIABETICS USE TO MONITOR THEIR GLUCOSE LEVELS. THIS PROJECT WILL CREATE SENSORS THAT ARE CAPABLE OF QUANTIFYING TWELVE OR MORE PESTICIDES FROM A SINGLE COLLECTED SAMPLE. THIS WILL BE DONE BY FIRST PREPARING THE SAMPLE BY MIXING IT THOROUGHLY IN A COLLECTION TUBE AND FILTERING OUT PARTICULATE MATTER THAT COULD GUM UP THE SENSOR WITH A SYRINGE FILTER. NEXT THE SAMPLE WILL BE TRANSFERRED VIA THE SYRINGE ONTO POLYMER COATED CARDBOARD DISKS CONTAINING TWELVE SENSORS THAT ARE DESIGNED TO DETECT DIFFERENT PESTICIDES. THE CARBON MATERIAL KNOW AS GRAPHENE WILL BE PRINTED ON THE DISKS AND WILL BE USED TO SPLIT THE FLUID SAMPLE INTO 12 CHANNELS THAT LEAD TO THE 12 DIFFERENT GRAPHENE-BASED SENSORS. THE FLUID WILL BE ATTRACTED TO FLOW ALONG THE GRAPHENE CHANNELS AS THE CHANNELS WILL BE DESIGNED WITH SUPERHYDROPHILIC GRAPHENE (GRAPHENE THAT ATTRACTS WATER) WHILE THE GRAPHENE SENSORS WILL BE DESIGNED WITH HIGH-SURFACE AREA AND HIGH ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY. SUCH SENSORS ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE THE SENSITIVITY OF THE SENSORS SO THAT THEY CAN MONITOR PESTICIDES AT LOWER CONCENTRATION LEVELS THAN CONVENTIONAL, MORE EXPENSIVE SENSOR MATERIALS SUCH AS GOLD. THESE SENSORS WILL ALSO HAVE THE ADDED BENEFIT OF BEING MADE OF ALMOST ENTIRELY OF CARBON-BASED MATERIALS SO THAT WHEN DISPOSED THEY WILL HAVE A MINIMUM IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT. SOFTWARE ALGORITHMS OR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCES (AI) WILL BE USED TO PROPERLY FILTER AND DECIPHER DATA GATHERED FROM BIOSENSORS TO ENSURE ACCURACY. A SMARTPHONE APP AND BIOSENSOR USER MANUAL WILL BE DEVELOPED AND POSTED ON THE INTERNET SO THAT A BROAD COMMUNITY OF END USERS CAN EASILY USE THE DEVELOPED TECHNOLOGY.THE PROJECT WILL CULMINATE WITH PUTTING THE SENSORS TO USE IN A MULTI-STATE FIELD TRIAL. SURFACE WATER SAMPLES WILL BE COLLECTED AND TESTED WITH THE DEVELOPED SENSORS FROM MULTIPLE FIELD SITES BOTH IN IOWA AND WISCONSIN. MOSQUITOS WILL ALSO BE COLLECTED AND ANALYZED FOR PESTICIDE-RESISTANCE FROM THESE FIELD SITES. SUCH MOSQUITOS ARE A MODEL ORGANISM THAT CAN REPRESENT THE BROADER HEALTH OF THE ENVIRONMENT. MORE SPECIFICALLY FOR FARMERS, MEASURING PESTICIDE RESISTANCES ARE IMPORTANT AS SUCH RESISTANCES PREVENT THE CONTROL OF INSECTS AND WEEDS THAT HARM CROPLANDS AND PREVENT THE CONTROL OF BITING FLIES AND TICKS THAT HARM LIVESTOCK. HENCE, IN THIS PROJECT, PESTICIDE CONCENTRATIONS WILL BE QUANTIFIED AND MAPPED ALONG WITH PESTICIDE-RESISTANCES THAT THE MOSQUITOS EXHIBIT. THE DATA WILL PROVIDE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF HOW PESTICIDES IMPACT AGRICULTURAL AND URBAN ECOSYSTEMS SO THAT TOLERANCE LEVELS AND APPLICATION SPECIFICS CAN BE BETTER UNDERSTOOD AND REGULATED BY DECISION-MAKERS.