STC: Science and Technologies for Phosphorus Sustainability (STEPS) Center

STC：磷可持续性科学技术 (STEPS) 中心

• 批准号: 2019435
• 负责人: Jacob Jones
• 金额: $ 2499.74万
• 依托单位: North Carolina State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Cooperative Agreement
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-10-01 至 2026-09-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2019435&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: STC; Science; Technologies; Phosphorus; Sustainability

Phosphorus, a major component of DNA, is one the fundamental elements of life. Phosphorus is vital to the productivity and sustainability of food systems, where it is used in fertilizers to improve crop yields that feed a growing population. Unfortunately, inefficiencies in phosphorus management result in phosphorus release into rivers, lakes, and oceans, leading to harmful algal blooms and poor water quality that threaten drinking water supplies and aquatic life. Unlike other elements critical to life, such as carbon and nitrogen, phosphorus is not recycled through atmospheric processes. The phosphorus needed for agriculture is lost to the Earth’s oceans once it is released and more must be mined from non-renewable rock phosphate deposits to replace this loss. These current phosphorus management practices pose serious direct threats to national food and water security. The Science and Technologies for Phosphorus Sustainability (STEPS) Center, a partnership between North Carolina State University, Arizona State University, University of Florida, RTI International, Appalachian State University, Marquette University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering at North Carolina A&T State University, and University of North Carolina at Greensboro, has a vision to achieve a 25% reduction in human dependence on mined phosphates and a 25% reduction in losses of phosphorus to soils and water resources within 25 years. To realize this “25-in-25” vision, center researchers will discover new science and develop new technologies and techniques that will increase the level of recycled phosphorus and reduce the dependence on mined phosphorus. The outcomes of the center’s activities will lead to the enhanced resilience of food systems and improved environmental conditions. This center will broaden the participation of women, underrepresented minorities, and persons with disabilities in STEM disciplines. Education researchers in STEPS will investigate factors that influence students’ education and research experiences in a convergence research environment. STEPS will develop publicly available, transdisciplinary educational modules for students and offer continuing education classes on phosphorus sustainability. The center will also organize an annual Research Experiences for Undergraduates program, including a Research Experience for Future Farmers track to guide the integration of STEPS research outcomes with the future generation of farmers. A STEPS Stakeholder Community Group, comprised of individuals from industrial, municipal, agricultural, regulatory, and other sectors, will inform the direction and prioritization of research activities, interact with students, and facilitate the dissemination of research products.As a convergence research center involving academic researchers and stakeholder groups, STEPS integrates contributions across the physical, life, social and economic sciences, and engineering to address wicked challenges in phosphorus sustainability. At the atomic to materials scale, STEPS will generate new fundamental knowledge about phosphorus capture and accelerate the development of novel techniques to reclaim organic and inorganic phosphorus. At the scale at which humans interact with technology, STEPS will develop new materials and technologies for both aqueous environments and plant-soil-microbial systems that will be studied in laboratories, greenhouses, surface waters, and fields. At length scales up to global dimensions, STEPS will use integrated modeling and social network analysis to identify intervention portfolios that enable the realization of the 25-in-25 vision and are resilient to socio-economic, policy, and environmental changes. The center researchers will use evidence-based approaches to assimilate new information and co-refine research questions through strategically designed interactions and processes among researchers and stakeholders. STEPS will use specific geographical sites representing urban, agricultural, and aquatic systems as conceptual anchors to provide technological constraints, potential impact scenarios, and connections to stakeholders. Convergence research approaches, transformative educational integration, and coordinated broadening participation strategies, combined with stakeholder participation, will foster new solutions to reduce the nation’s dependence on mined phosphorus and result in sustainable management of the phosphorus cycle to ensure the nation’s future food and water security.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.

磷是DNA的主要组成部分，是生命的基本元素之一。磷对粮食系统的生产力和可持续性至关重要，它被用作肥料，以提高作物产量，养活不断增长的人口。不幸的是，磷管理效率低下导致磷释放到河流、湖泊和海洋中，导致有害的藻类繁殖和水质恶化，威胁到饮用水供应和水生生物。不像其他对生命至关重要的元素，如碳和氮，磷不能通过大气过程循环。农业所需的磷一旦被释放，就会流失到地球的海洋中，必须从不可再生的磷矿中开采更多的磷来弥补这一损失。这些目前的磷管理做法对国家粮食和水安全构成严重的直接威胁。磷可持续发展科学与技术（STEPS）中心是由北卡罗来纳州立大学、亚利桑那州立大学、佛罗里达大学、RTI国际、阿巴拉契亚州立大学、马凯特大学、伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳-香槟分校、北卡罗来纳州农工大学纳米科学与纳米工程联合学院和北卡罗来纳州格林斯博罗大学合作建立的。目标是在25年内将人类对开采磷酸盐的依赖减少25%，并将土壤和水资源中的磷损失减少25%。为了实现这一“25-in-25”的愿景，中心的研究人员将发现新的科学，开发新的技术和工艺，以提高再生磷的水平，减少对开采磷的依赖。该中心活动的结果将导致增强粮食系统的恢复力和改善环境条件。该中心将扩大女性、未被充分代表的少数民族和残疾人在STEM学科中的参与。STEPS的教育研究人员将在趋同的研究环境中调查影响学生教育和研究经历的因素。STEPS将为学生开发公开可用的跨学科教育模块，并提供有关磷可持续性的继续教育课程。该中心还将组织一年一度的本科生研究体验项目，包括未来农民研究体验项目，以指导STEPS研究成果与未来一代农民的整合。STEPS利益相关者社区小组由来自工业、市政、农业、监管和其他部门的个人组成，将为研究活动的方向和优先顺序提供信息，与学生互动，并促进研究产品的传播。作为一个汇集学术研究人员和利益相关者团体的研究中心，STEPS整合了物理、生命、社会和经济科学以及工程领域的贡献，以解决磷可持续发展的严峻挑战。在原子到材料的尺度上，STEPS将产生关于磷捕获的新基础知识，并加速回收有机和无机磷的新技术的发展。在人类与技术相互作用的规模上，STEPS将开发用于水环境和植物-土壤-微生物系统的新材料和技术，这些材料和技术将在实验室、温室、地表水和田地中进行研究。step将使用综合建模和社会网络分析来确定干预组合，使其能够实现25-in-25愿景，并适应社会经济、政策和环境变化。该中心的研究人员将使用基于证据的方法来吸收新的信息，并通过研究人员和利益相关者之间战略性设计的互动和过程来共同完善研究问题。STEPS将使用代表城市、农业和水生系统的特定地理地点作为概念锚点，提供技术限制、潜在影响情景以及与利益相关者的联系。趋同的研究方法、变革性的教育整合和协调的扩大参与战略，结合利益相关者的参与，将促进新的解决方案，以减少国家对开采磷的依赖，并实现对磷循环的可持续管理，以确保国家未来的粮食和水安全。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

Hazardous Spills at Retired Fertilizer Manufacturing Plants Will Continue to Occur in the Absence of Scientific Innovation and Regulatory Enforcement

如果缺乏科学创新和监管执法，退役化肥生产厂的危险泄漏事件将继续发生

• DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.1c05311
• 发表时间: 2021
• 期刊: Environmental Science & Technology
• 影响因子: 11.4
• 作者: Nelson, Natalie G.;Cuchiara, Maude L.;Hendren, Christine Ogilvie;Jones, Jacob L.;Marshall, Anna-Maria
• 通讯作者: Marshall, Anna-Maria

Recovery of Urea from Human Urine Using Nanofiltration and Reverse Osmosis

• DOI: 10.1021/acsestwater.2c00336
• 发表时间: 2022-09
• 期刊: ACS ES&T Water
• 作者: Lucas Crane;H. Ray;F. Perreault;Treavor H. Boyer

Role of Nanoscale Morphology on the Efficiency of Solvent-Based Desalination Method

• DOI: 10.1021/acsestwater.2c00473
• 发表时间: 2023-01
• 期刊: ACS ES&T Water
• 作者: James S. Peerless;Alexey V. Gulyuk;Nina J. B. Milliken;G. Kim;Elliot Reid;Jae Woo Lee;Dooil Kim;Zachary Hendren;Young-Chul Choi;Yaroslava G. Yingling

From Ground to Grain: Tracing Phosphorus and Potassium in Flooded Rice Cultivar Grown on Histosols

从地面到谷物：追踪组织土上生长的淹稻品种中的磷和钾

• DOI: 10.3390/agriculture12081250
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Agriculture
• 作者: Amgain, Naba R.;Fan, Yuchuan;VanWeelden, Matthew T.;Rabbany, Abul;Bhadha, Jehangir H.
• 通讯作者: Bhadha, Jehangir H.

Contributions of healthier diets and agricultural productivity toward sustainability and climate goals in the United States

更健康的饮食和农业生产力对美国可持续发展和气候目标的贡献

• DOI: 10.1007/s11625-022-01232-w
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Sustainability Science
• 影响因子: 6
• 作者: Wu, Grace C.;Baker, Justin S.;Wade, Christopher M.;McCord, Gordon C.;Fargione, Joseph E.;Havlik, Petr
• 通讯作者: Havlik, Petr