CAREER: Metabolomics-Enabled Approaches to Advance Characterization of Organic Matter Trapping in Natural and Engineered Matrices

1653092Aristilde这个项目的主要目标是调查有机污染物在矿物表面被捕获的机理。这种圈闭控制着湖泊和河流沉积物、土壤表层、垃圾填埋场和水过滤系统中的转化和传输速率。拟议研究的首要目标是开发一种新的方法，将实验方法和计算方法结合起来，在分子水平上深入了解复杂的有机-矿物混合物中有机污染物的捕获情况。这项研究成果将为解决湖泊和河流环境中的固体废物处理和长期有机物封存问题提供新的理论框架。PI将研究驱动有机污染物捕获的矿物表面的有机物结构。这些研究活动建立在PI在表面光谱学、分子生物学和计算模拟方面的专业知识基础上，并将利用质谱学和代谢组学方面的最新进展来研究生物系统的分子指纹。PI将利用从分子生物学领域采用的代谢组学的新应用，以填补环境工程过程中的一个重要知识空白：阐明管理有机污染物和天然有机物在有机矿物基质中捕获的超分子化学。这种分子描述的局限性阻碍了对自然和工程土壤环境中有机污染物的隔离机制的全面了解。研究的目标是发展一种变革性的机制理解：(1)矿物表面组装的生物分子的层次结构；(2)有机-矿物复合体中有机污染物捕获的演化；以及(3)在矿物界面包裹污染物的生物分子组件的超分子结构。外联活动的目的将是提高公众对分子尺度和纳米尺度过程的认识，这些过程决定着与公众和生态系统健康相关的有机物质和有机污染物的命运。这项任务将通过执行一项新设计的题为“场景六：从可见到无形的自然环境科学探索”的方案来实现。该计划将与当地的实践科学博物馆Science Center、纽约市的康奈尔合作推广办公室、康奈尔职业和环境健康中心以及纽约环境保护部建立的伙伴关系相结合。通过场景VI的活动旨在为年轻的博物馆参观者和纽约市4-H青年发展计划中未被充分代表的青少年提供互动活动。

1653092Aristilde The key objective of this project is to investigate the mechanisms underlying the trapping of organic contaminants at mineral surfaces. This trapping controls transformation and transport rates within lake and river sediments, soil subsurfaces, landfills, and water filtration systems. The overarching goal of the proposed research is to develop a new approach that combines experimental and computational methods to obtain insights at the molecular scale into the trapping of organic contaminants within complex organo-mineral mixtures. The research findings will advance a new theoretical framework for addressing solid waste treatment and long-term organic matter sequestration in lake and river environments.The PI will investigate organic matter structures at mineral surfaces that drive the trapping of organic contaminants. The research activities are built on the PI's expertise in surface spectroscopy, molecular biology, and computational simulations and will exploit recent advances in mass spectrometry and metabolomics for the molecular fingerprinting of biological systems. The PI will exploit a novel application of metabolomics as adopted from the field of molecular biology towards filling an important knowledge gap in environmental engineering processes: elucidating the supramolecular chemistry that governs the trapping of organic contaminants and natural organic matter within organo-mineral matrices. Limitations in this molecular depiction have prevented a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms responsible for the sequestration of organic contaminants within natural and engineered soil environments. The research goals are to develop a transformative mechanistic understanding of: (1) the hierarchy of assembled biomolecules on mineral surfaces; (2) the evolution of the trapping of organic contaminants within organo-mineral complexes; and, (3) the supramolecular architecture of biomolecular assemblies encapsulating contaminants at mineral interfaces. The outreach activities will be aimed at increasing the public literacy of the molecular-scale and nanoscale processes that drive the fate of organic matter and organic contaminants with relevance to public and ecosystem health. This task will be achieved through the implementation of a newly-designed program entitled ScENE VI: Scientific Explorations of the Natural Environment from the Visible to the Invisible. This program will be integrated with established partnerships with the local hands-on science museum Sciencenter, the Cornell cooperative extension office in New York City, the Cornell Occupational and Environmental Health, and the New York Department of Conservation. The activities through ScENE VI aim to provide interactive activities for young museum visitors and underrepresented teens of NYC 4-H youth development program.