IUCRC Phase I University of Connecticut: Center for Soil Technologies (SoilTech)

IUCRC 第一阶段康涅狄格大学：土壤技术中心 (SoilTech)

• 批准号: 2231646
• 负责人: Baikun Li
• 金额: $ 70万
• 依托单位: University of Connecticut
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-03-01 至 2028-02-29
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2231646&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: IUCRC; Phase; University; Connecticut; Center

Healthy soils are needed to sustain life, to grow food, to provide shelter, to provide resilient infrastructure, and to enable mobility, but there is presently a lack of knowledge about many key aspects of soil and its dynamics such as variations in the moisture and organic matter content, and how these variations affect soil health and stability. The Center for Soil Technologies (SoilTech) is a partnership among the University of Southern California, Iowa State University, the University of Connecticut, and the University of Washington to address this knowledge gap with a mission to support industries related to agriculture, defense, energy, and environment. By convening researchers across the nation with complementary areas of expertise, and by recruiting Industry Advisory Board members from a broad range of industry, foundation, and government organizations, SoilTech will make crucial progress in understanding soil dynamics. SoilTech will serve as a first-of-its-kind hub for technical exchange and research among these organizations, providing inter-disciplinary knowledge synthesis and broad applications of its research. SoilTech’s participating sites have strong education and outreach programs addressing underrepresented populations in STEM fields. These programs will train the next generation of workforce in soil measurement and monitoring practices that will broadly benefit society. The research teams at SoilTech are poised to make significant advances in the understanding of dynamic processes in soils through four research themes - Soil Sensors and Sensor Networks; Soil Modeling and Data Analytics; Soil Carbon Capture and Accounting; and Soil Health and Sustainability. SoilTech-enabled research will meet a number of unaddressed needs in industry sectors. Research topics include the development of resilient in-ground sensors and sensor networks, soil modeling and analytics for decision support, standardization of carbon accounting methodology, and developing holistic soil health initiatives such as contaminant mitigation and support for precision agriculture. SoilTech will provide the underlying research necessary to develop efficient and sustainable ways of understanding soil properties and managing natural resources. University Connecticut (UConn) contributions will focus on soil sensors and soil heath based on its research expertise. UConn has multiple world-class facilities to support SoilTech and foster partnerships with entrepreneurs. These resources include the Institute of Environment, Institute of Material Science, Agricultural Extension Station, Science I Research Center, and the newly inaugurated Innovation Partnership Building. UConn will also leverage several existing mechanisms for incorporating underrepresented students into SoilTech’s research, including the First Year Experience program, and Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation.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.

需要健康的土壤来维持生命、种植粮食、提供住所、提供有弹性的基础设施以及实现流动性，但目前人们对土壤及其动态的许多关键方面缺乏了解，例如水分和有机质含量的变化，以及这些变化如何影响土壤健康和稳定性。土壤技术中心 (SoilTech) 是南加州大学、爱荷华州立大学、康涅狄格大学和华盛顿大学之间的合作伙伴关系，旨在解决这一知识差距，其使命是支持农业、国防、能源和环境相关行业。通过召集全国各地具有互补专业领域的研究人员，并从广泛的行业、基金会和政府组织中招募行业咨询委员会成员，SoilTech 将在了解土壤动力学方面取得关键进展。 SoilTech 将成为这些组织之间首个技术交流和研究中心，提供跨学科知识综合及其研究的广泛应用。 SoilTech 的参与地点拥有强大的教育和外展计划，旨在解决 STEM 领域代表性不足的人群问题。这些计划将培训下一代土壤测量和监测实践劳动力，这将广泛造福社会。 SoilTech 的研究团队准备通过四个研究主题，在理解土壤动态过程方面取得重大进展：土壤传感器和传感器网络；土壤建模和数据分析；土壤碳捕获和核算；以及土壤健康和可持续性。 土壤技术支持的研究将满足工业领域许多未解决的需求。研究主题包括开发弹性地下传感器和传感器网络、用于决策支持的土壤建模和分析、碳核算方法的标准化以及制定整体土壤健康计划，例如污染物减排和支持精准农业。 SoilTech 将提供必要的基础研究，以开发有效且可持续的方法来了解土壤特性和管理自然资源。康涅狄格大学 (UConn) 的贡献将集中在基于其研究专业知识的土壤传感器和土壤健康方面。康涅狄格大学拥有多个世界一流的设施来支持土壤技术并培养与企业家的合作伙伴关系。这些资源包括环境研究所、材料科学研究所、农业推广站、科学研究中心和新落成的创新伙伴大楼。康涅狄格大学还将利用多种现有机制，将代表性不足的学生纳入 SoilTech 的研究，包括第一年体验计划和路易斯·斯托克斯少数族裔参与联盟。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优点和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。