| NSF Org: |
CBET Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | June 13, 2022 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | June 13, 2022 |
| Award Number: | 2145613 |
| Award Instrument: | Continuing Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Sunny Jiang
cjiang@nsf.gov (703)292-7858 CBET Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems ENG Directorate for Engineering |
| Start Date: | July 1, 2022 |
| End Date: | June 30, 2027 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $529,992.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $418,150.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
1850 RESEARCH PARK DR STE 300 DAVIS CA US 95618-6153 (530)754-7700 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
OR/Sponsored Programs Davis CA US 95618-6134 |
| 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): | EnvE-Environmental Engineering |
| Primary Program Source: |
01002627DB 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): | 47.041 |
ABSTRACT
Food and organic wastes are the largest component of municipal solid waste in landfills. In 2018, over 30 million tons of food and organic wastes were disposed of in landfills. The management of landfilled organic wastes is challenging as it often requires the design and integration of treatment trains to control odor emissions and the release of toxic leachates and greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane. Insect mediated bioconversion (IMB) has emerged as a promising and sustainable alternative to convert food/organic wastes to useful products. The basic premise of IMB is that food/organic wastes can be used as substrates to grow insects which can then be processed into valuable products including animal feed, biofuels, and compost or higher-value soil amendments. The overarching goal of this CAREER project is to explore the use of IMB to sequester and degrade persistent and toxic contaminants with an initial focus on poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from landfilled organic wastes. To advance this goal, the Principal Investigator proposes to use the black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) as model systems to investigate how PFAS accumulate in insects and the extent of PFAS degradation by enzymes in insect guts. The successful completion of this project will benefit society through the generation of new fundamental knowledge to advance the development of IMB as a sustainable treatment technology for PFAS-contaminated landfilled organic wastes. Further benefits to society will be achieved through student education and training including the mentoring of a graduate student and an undergraduate student at the University of California, Davis.
Insect-mediated bioconversion (IMB) has emerged as a promising, scalable, and cost-effective platform to generate valuable products from organic waste streams. However, little is known about the potential of IMB to treat and degrade persistent and toxic contaminants such as PFAS that are often present in landfilled organic wastes. This CAREER project proposes to investigate the bioaccumulation and biotransformation of PFAS by black soldier fly larvae (BSFL), a family of insects with great potential to convert organic wastes to useful products due to their high lipids and protein contents. Two key goals of the research are to: 1) probe PFAS interactions with model lipids and proteins to unravel the mechanisms of PFAS bioaccumulation in insect tissues and 2) evaluate the extents of PFAS bioaccumulation, metabolism, and bioconversion by BSFL. To advance these goals, the Principal Investigator (PI) proposes to carry out an integrated experimental and modeling research program that will combine 1) liquid-chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-QTOF-MS) with targeted analysis to evaluate the abundance and diversity of PFAS in diverted food waste, finished compost, and landfill leachate, 2) atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to predict the binding affinities of PFAS to proteins using human serum albumin as model system, 3) ex vivo assays to measure PFAS bioaccumulation in the protein and lipid fractions of BSFL tissue homogenates, and 4) experimental assays to measure and characterize PFAS bioaccumulation and biotransformation in the tissues of BSFL. The successful completion of this project has the potential for transformative impact through the generation of new fundamental knowledge to advance the development and implementation of IMB as an efficient and cost-effective PFAS remediation technology. To implement the educational and training goals of this CAREER project, the PI will revise one of her undergraduate courses at UC-Davis to include a CURES (course-based undergraduate research experiences) module that will engage teams of three to four students through a complete inquiry cycle, beginning with the development of a research question and a testable hypothesis linked to the bioaccumulation of contaminants such as PFAS. In addition, the PI plans to actively engage with engineering educators and professionals to disseminate educational resources, share key research findings from her CAREER project, and promote meaningful dialogue around science-based solutions for achieving a zero-waste future.
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.
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