| NSF Org: |
EAR Division Of Earth Sciences |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | June 17, 2020 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | August 19, 2021 |
| Award Number: | 1952817 |
| Award Instrument: | Fellowship Award |
| Program Manager: |
Aisha Morris
armorris@nsf.gov (703)292-7081 EAR Division Of Earth Sciences GEO Directorate for Geosciences |
| Start Date: | August 1, 2020 |
| End Date: | September 30, 2022 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $174,000.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $174,000.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2021 = $87,000.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
Albuquerque NM US 87114 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
Stanford CA US 94305-4007 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): |
Postdoctoral Fellowships, Geobiology & Low-Temp Geochem |
| Primary Program Source: |
01002122DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.050 |
ABSTRACT
An NSF EAR Postdoctoral Fellowship has been granted to Dr. Cherie L. De Vore to conduct research and training initiatives at Stanford University under the mentorship of Dr. Scott Fendorf. The project seeks to identify mechanisms affecting the uptake and bioavailability of arsenic in culturally relevant plants from Native American communities. By better understanding arsenic uptake using controlled laboratory experiments, it will be possible to determine strategies for immobilizing metals and limiting exposure routes to the environment and to humans. This work uses community-driven partnerships and interdisciplinary collaborations that will ultimately contribute to reducing arsenic exposure to protect the health of Native American communities, which is one of the main broader impacts of this project. The results of this project offer a unique opportunity to translate knowledge about arsenic uptake to benefit underserved tribal communities with the goal of promoting social equity. Direct educational benefits include environmental research and training for a Native American Postdoctoral researcher and community partners.
Extensive abandoned mine waste sites in the western United States near tribal lands are poorly managed. The detection of arsenic in plant tissues grown in mining-impacted sediment drives the investigation of Dr. De Vore aimed at better understanding of the role of fungal endophytes and natural organic matter (NOM) on the accumulation of arsenic in relevant plants used by Native American communities. The integration of aqueous chemistry, DNA sequencing, spectroscopy and microscopy techniques will allow the identification of biogeochemical mechanisms affecting arsenic speciation and bioavailability in plant-soil micro-zone environments that are currently not well understood. Results from this initiative will be useful to help identify potential exposure pathways and enhance risk reduction strategies for communities living near these sites. Further, advancing knowledge of the biogeochemical processes can then steer remediation efforts that may require a sizable federal investment. The results of this study have relevant implications for informing tribal and regulatory decision makers, as well as environmental risk assessments and phytoremediation efforts for communities located near abandoned mine waste sites. This project was co-funded by the Geobiology and Low-Temperature Geochemistry program in the division of Earth Sciences.
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.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The overall goal of this project was to integrate interdisciplinary micro- to macro- scale research tools, mentoring and community partnerships to better understand mobilization and bioavailability of metals in environmental systems impacted by mining legacy and other anthropogenic activities. Knowledge of the chemical and biological processes affecting metal release can potentially steer restoration and remediation efforts, while integrating relevant cultural context.
This project illustrated the role of endophytic fungi in significantly enhancing root length and biomass production in little bluestem grass, enabling these inoculated plants to better tolerate arsenic, compared to those without fungi. The implications of these changes were that bigger biomass means more sites for adsorption and precipitation reactions with minerals that could accumulate arsenic after being exposed in hydroponic media. The results from this investigation with a plant culturally relevant to the watershed was useful for informing i) local tribal agricultural and harvesting practices; ii) research for remediation applications that make use of the interaction of fungi and plants for uptake and accumulation of metals. Further, biosorption batch experiments with the fungi alone contributed to the advancement of knowledge on the potential role that contact time, initial metal concentration and age of fungi could have on adsorption.
In addition, this project integrated microscopy, molecular biology and bioinformatics tools to examine metal accumulation and microbial community responses in areas impacted by low to high severity wildfires. Project outcomes include better understanding the roles of geology type, burn severity and plant type on microbial community shifts that could serve as the basis of ecosystem recovery. For instance, fungal relative abundances statistically differed by burn severity, and known fungal fire responders, like genus Penicillium, were most abundant in highly burned areas. More work is in progress to evaluate pre- and post- burn metal accumulation and microbial diversity in soil. This work, along with local and Indigenous Knowledges, can be integrated into a toolkit to better plan for wildfires and climate change.
Broader impacts of this work included community dialogue, professional training and mentoring of undergraduate, graduate and high school students belonging to intersectional and historically excluded identities in STEM. This project created experiential training and research opportunities for several students, leading to the advancement of their careers in tribal, academic and professional capacities. The PI was an invited speaker, guest lecturer, instructor and developed an Indigenous centered research framework during this project and it continues to be developed into her tenure-track career.
Last Modified: 09/11/2024
Modified by: Cherie Devore
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