**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 MAUI WILDFIRES ON AUGUST 8, 2023 CAUSED THE LARGEST WILDFIRE-RELATED HUMAN FATALITY IN THE MODERN U.S. HISTORY, IN ADDITION TO SIGNIFICANT PROPERTIES DESTRUCTION AND LONG-LASTING ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGES IN SEVERAL COASTAL AND UPCOUNTRY COMMUNITIES. FOR THE AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST AREAS IMPACTED BY THE WILDFIRES, ONE MAJOR KNOWLEDGE GAP IS WHETHER CHROMIUM (VI) (CR(VI)) WOULD BECOME A MAJOR OR EVEN DOMINANT PUBLIC HEALTH RISK DIVER IN THE IMMEDIATE AFTERMATH OF THE DISASTER AND DURING THE LONG-TERM RECOVERY AND REBUILDING PROCESSES. BECAUSE THE VOLCANIC HAWAII SOILS CONTAIN EXTRAORDINARILY HIGH LEVELS OF TOTAL CR, THE OVERARCHING HYPOTHESIS OF THE PROJECT IS THAT THE SOIL CR CAN BE TRANSFORMED TO CR(VI) THROUGH THERMOCHEMICAL OXIDATION. BECAUSE CR(VI) IS HIGH TOXIC AND MOBILE, IT CAN AFFECT PUBLIC HEALTH IN AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITIES THROUGH MULTIPLE EXPOSURE ROUTES, INCLUDING DIRECT SKIN CONTACT, DUST INHALATION, AND DRINKING WATER CONSUMPTION. THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO UNDERSTAND THE ABUNDANCE AND FATE OF CR(VI) IN THE MAUI WILDFIRE-IMPACTED SOIL, AND TO DEVELOP COST-EFFECTIVE AND PRACTICAL BIOREMEDIATION STRATEGIES. TO ACHIEVE THIS GOAL, THE FIRST OBJECTIVE WILL DETERMINE THE IMPACT OF MAUI WILDFIRES ON THE SPECIATION OF TOTAL CR IN AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST SOILS THROUGH FIELD SAMPLING AND LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS, AND THE SECOND OBJECTIVE WILL CONDUCT LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS TO TEST MULCHING AND ACIDIC COMPOST AMENDMENT AS COST-EFFECTIVE AND PRACTICAL BIOREMEDIATION STRATEGIES TO REDUCE SOIL CR(VI). THE PROJECT RESULTS WILL INCLUDE FIELD SAMPLING AND LABORATORY EXPERIMENTAL DATA ON THE ABUNDANCE AND FATE OF CR(VI) IN THE MAUI WILDFIRE-IMPACTED SOIL SAMPLES AND IN SOIL SAMPLES SUBJECTED TO THE BIOREMEDIATION STRATEGIES. THE ANTICIPATED IMPACT IS IMPROVED UNDERSTANDING OF THE WILDFIRES' IMPACT ON CR(VI) IN THE AGRICULTURAL AND FORESTRY SOIL ENVIRONMENTS, DEVELOPMENT OF BIOREMEDIATION STRATEGIES, AND EXTENSION AND EDUCATION TO COMMUNICATE ASSOCIATED PUBLIC HEALTH RISKS TO THE IMPACTED COMMUNITIES.