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

硝酸盐是世界上地表水和地下水中最常见的化学污染物。这种普遍性导致硝酸盐成为饮用水受损的主要原因。常用的杀虫剂和抗生素在世界各地的水道中也无处不在，特别是在农业环境中。虽然这些化学物质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，包括破坏蜂群、破坏人类生殖和发育，以及传播抗生素耐药性。处理湿地系统有可能成为一种具有成本效益的替代方案，以防止这些化学物质和其他新出现的污染物向环境释放。然而，人们对处理湿地是否能同时去除径流中存在的硝酸盐和污染物混合物缺乏了解；这是阻碍更广泛采用该技术的关键知识差距。该项目的目标是为使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。成功完成这一项目可能会带来具有成本效益的污染物替代处理办法，以保护低收入农村社区的人类和生态健康。这些成果将用于在本地和远程开发创新的社区水质教育项目。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提高科学素养和多样性。这些群体往往是受水质退化影响最大的群体，因此最有可能从这些努力中受益。这个CAREER项目的两个目标是提高对抗生素和农药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吸引社区参与，促进科学素养和STEM劳动力的发展。以下具体目标旨在实现这些目标：i)通过在陆基和浮动处理湿地系统中使用15N同位素富集研究，确定影响营养物去除效果的水质参数；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)通过指导和学前教育和高中课程的发展，培养未来的实践者，提供实践生态系统教育；㈣在虚拟和实地地点提供公民科学机会和水质培训，使受影响的农村社区参与。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，弥合微观世界和中观世界实验之间的观察和动力学建模的差距。这项研究的成功完成将通过阐明两种不同的湿地处理系统中控制氮去除和转化的机制来推进知识。通过了解新出现的污染物如何影响湿地微生物介导的反硝化作用，知识也将得到提高。通过评估新兴关注的特定污染物对湿地生态系统服务的影响，进一步改善下游水质和水库恢复力的保护。这些结果有可能通过加速基于科学观察的处理湿地设计和管理的发展来造福社会，从而增加农业和其他环境中水的处理选择。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。

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.