CAREER: Impact of Pesticide and Antibiotic Cocktails on Nitrogen Removal Processes in Treatment Wetlands

硝酸盐是世界上最常见的地下水和地表水化学污染物。这种流行导致硝酸盐成为饮用水受损的主要原因。在世界各地的水道中，特别是在农业环境中，常用的杀虫剂和抗生素也变得无处不在。虽然这些化学品对农业生产力很重要，但它们释放到环境中对农业生态系统食物网和人类健康造成了重大影响，包括蜂群中断、人类生殖和发育中断以及抗生素耐药性的传播。湿地处理系统有可能成为一种具有成本效益的替代方案，以防止这些化学品和其他新出现的污染物向环境排放。然而，人们缺乏对处理湿地能否去除径流中存在的硝酸盐和污染物混合物的了解；这一关键的知识差距阻碍了这项技术的更广泛采用。该项目的目标是为利用处理湿地去除污染物混合物和硝酸盐以改善水质制定基于科学的指导。这一目标将通过使用最先进的示踪剂和自动传感技术评估特定污染物对湿地处理过程的影响来实现。该项目的成功完成可能会带来具有成本效益的污染物处理替代方案，以保护低收入农村社区的人类和生态健康。这些成果将用于在当地和远程制定创新的社区水质教育计划。社区成员的更多参与将通过为STEM中代表性不足的群体提供实践工程经验来促进科学素养和多样性。这些群体往往是受水质恶化影响最大的群体，因此，他们最有可能从这些努力中受益。这个职业项目的双重目标是提高对抗生素和杀虫剂如何影响湿地硝酸盐去除的理解，同时通过一个创新的公民科学和教育平台让社区参与进来，以提高科学素养和STEM劳动力发展。旨在实现这些目标的具体目标如下：i)通过在陆基和漂浮处理湿地系统中进行15N同位素浓缩研究，确定影响去除养分效果的水质参数；ii)创建一个工具包，利用三维多参数原位传感器技术确定湿地的理想位置和大小；iii)通过辅导和编制学前教育和高中课程，培训未来的从业人员，以提供实践生态系统教育；以及iv)提供公民科学机会和水质培训，让受影响的农村社区参与进来。现场和实验室规模的实验方法将通过现场规模的监测和建模，从微观和中观实验中弥合观察和动力学建模之间的差距。这项研究的成功完成将通过阐明两个不同湿地处理系统中氮的去除和转化的控制机制来促进知识的进步。还将通过了解新出现的令人担忧的污染物如何影响湿地中微生物介导的反硝化作用来促进知识的发展。通过评估新出现的令人关注的特定污染物对湿地生态系统服务的影响，改善下游水质的保护和水库的恢复能力，将带来进一步的好处。这些成果有可能造福社会，加速基于科学观察的湿地处理设计和管理的发展，以增强农业和其他环境中的水处理选择。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Nitrate is the most commonly observed chemical contaminant of ground and surface water in the world. This prevalence leads to nitrate being the major cause for drinking water impairment. Common use pesticides and antibiotics have also become ubiquitous in waterways worldwide, particularly in agricultural settings. While these chemicals are important for agricultural productivity, their release to the environment has resulted in significant impacts to agroecosystem food webs and human health, including bee colony disruptions, human reproductive and development disruption, and the spread of antibiotic resistance. Treatment wetland systems have the potential to be a cost-effective alternative to prevent the release of these chemicals and other emerging contaminants to the environment. However, there is a lack of understanding whether treatment wetlands can remove both nitrate and contaminant mixtures that exist in runoff; a critical knowledge gap that prevents more widespread adoption of this technology. The goal of this project is to develop science-based guidance for the use of treatment wetlands to remove contaminant mixtures and nitrate to improve water quality. This goal will be achieved by evaluating the influence of specific contaminants on wetland treatment processes using state-of-the-science tracers and automated sensing technology. Successful completion of this project may lead to cost-effective treatment alternatives for contaminants to protect human and ecological health in low income, rural communities. These results will be used to develop innovative community water quality education programs both locally and remotely. Additional engagement of community members will advance scientific literacy and diversity through hands-on engineering experiences for underrepresented groups in STEM. These groups are often among those most impacted by degraded water quality and, as a result, have the greatest potential ability to benefit from these efforts.The twin goals of this CAREER project are to improve understanding of how antibiotics and pesticides impact nitrate removal in wetlands while engaging communities through an innovative citizen science and education platform to advance science literacy and STEM workforce development. The following specific objectives are designed to achieve these goals: i) Identify water quality parameters that impact nutrient removal efficacy through the use of 15N isotopic enrichment studies in land-based and floating treatment wetland systems; ii) Create a toolkit for identifying ideal placement and sizing of wetlands using three-dimensional multiparameter in-situ sensor technologies; iii) Train future practitioners through mentorship and the development of pre-K and high school curricula to deliver hands-on ecological systems education; and iv) Provide citizen science opportunities and water quality training virtually and at field locations to engage affected rural communities. Field and laboratory scale experimental approaches will bridge gaps between observation and kinetic modeling from microcosm and mesocosm experiments with field-scale monitoring and modeling. Successful completion of this research will advance knowledge by elucidating mechanisms controlling nitrogen removal and transformation in two distinct wetland treatment systems. Knowledge will also be advanced through understanding how contaminants of emerging concern impact microbially mediated denitrification in wetlands. Further benefits result from improved protection of downstream water quality and reservoir resilience by evaluating the influence of specific contaminants of emerging concern on wetland ecosystem services. These results have potential to benefit society by accelerating the development of treatment wetland design and management based on science-based observation to enhance treatment options for water in agricultural and other settings.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.