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

美国国家科学基金会博士后奖学金已授予博士切丽L。在斯科特·芬多夫博士的指导下，德沃尔将在斯坦福大学开展研究和培训活动。该项目旨在确定影响美洲土著社区文化相关植物中砷的吸收和生物利用度的机制。通过使用受控实验室实验更好地了解砷的吸收，将有可能确定固定金属和限制环境和人类接触途径的战略。这项工作利用社区驱动的伙伴关系和跨学科合作，最终将有助于减少砷暴露，以保护美洲原住民社区的健康，这是该项目的主要广泛影响之一。该项目的结果提供了一个独特的机会，将有关砷吸收的知识转化为有益于服务不足的部落社区，以促进社会公平。直接的教育效益包括环境研究和培训美国原住民博士后研究员和社区合作伙伴。 在美国西部靠近部落土地的大片废弃矿场管理不善。在受采矿影响的沉积物中生长的植物组织中检测到砷，推动了De Vore博士的调查，旨在更好地了解真菌内生菌和天然有机物（NOM）对美洲原住民社区使用的相关植物中砷积累的作用。水化学，DNA测序，光谱和显微镜技术的整合将允许识别影响砷的形态和生物利用度在植物-土壤微区环境，目前还没有很好地理解的地球化学机制。这一举措的结果将有助于确定潜在的接触途径，并加强生活在这些地点附近的社区的减少风险战略。此外，提高对地球化学过程的认识，可以指导可能需要相当大的联邦投资的补救工作。这项研究的结果有相关的影响，通知部落和监管决策者，以及环境风险评估和植物修复工作的社区附近废弃的矿山废物场。该项目由地球科学部的地球生物学和低温地球化学项目共同资助。该奖项反映了NSF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。

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.