EAR-PF: Mechanisms Influencing Arsenic speciation and bioavailability at the plant-soil interface on Native American lands

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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.