RCN-SEES: Coordinating Phosphorus Research to Create a Sustainable Food System

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Steering Committee: James Elser, Rimjhim Aggarwal, and Helen Rowe at Arizona State University;Tauhidur Rahman, University of Arizona; David Vaccari, Stephens Institute of Technology; AnitaStreet, US Department of Energy; Robert Mikkelsen, International Plant Nutrition InstituteIntellectual Merit: Phosphorus (P) is an essential element to life and, with few exceptions, a necessaryfertilizer for high agricultural yield. Because P cannot be manufactured and global supply is limited,this chemical element poses a unique, double-sided threat to sustainability. P scarcity leads tohigh prices and poverty for poor farmers in developing countries, but in industrialized nations, excessP from farms and in urban waste streams degrades downstream water quality. The issues surroundingP sustainability are deeply complex and involve diverse geological, biogeochemical, economic, andgeopolitical dimensions that are currently unconsolidated. Environmental degradation due to nutrientrunoff and potential threats to global food security urgently call for an end to this disjointed approachto phosphorus. The goal of the P Sustainability Research Coordination Network (RCN) is to spark aninterdisciplinary synthesis of data, perspectives, and understanding about phosphorus to identify andimplement solutions for P sustainability.The RCN theme, objectives, and initial topics build upon broad agreement on key P sustainabilitychallenges reached at a recent Sustainable P Summit (SPS) led by James Elser and colleague Dan Childers.The RCN will involve two phases centered on three Challenge Areas. Phase I groups will workon two Challenges: (1) Improving P efficiency in food production; (2) Developing robust pathwaysof P recycling. At the Kick-off Workshop, identified Core Members will develop Working Groupscentered around these challenge areas. These Groups will be further populated with At-Large Membersrecruited through a widely advertised application process that will allow us to target qualifiedgraduate students, postdocs, and members of under-represented groups. In Year 3, a Synthesis Workshopwill report on the science and solution outcomes from Phase I and develop new Phase II WorkingGroups focused on Challenge 3: Integrating efficiency and recycling to create a sustainable food system.A Wrap-up Workshop, held early in Year 5, will be held to report on science and solution outcomesfrom Phase II and provide the push to finalize outcomes.Broader Impacts: Central to the P Sustainability RCN will be recruitment of a diverse network ofparticipants of different professions, ranks, genders, races, ethnicities, and nationalities. The SteeringCommittee will reflect this diversity, including three students in ex officio capacity, giving them invaluableexperience in leadership, networking, collaborative science, and policy. To communicate keyaspects of RCN work, we will produce two dynamic, high-quality videos to reach targeted audiences offarmers, educators, fertilizer industry, and policy makers. The three RCN Workshops will be held inWashington DC in order to facilitate participation by policy makers, government officials, representativesof agriculture and the fertilizer industry, and urban planners with the aim of developing research prioritiesfor the RCN, presenting outcomes and planning implementation of sustainability solutions.