ECO-CBET: Sustainability from the Bottom Up: A Holistic Solution to Balancing the N-Cycle

该项目通过开发一种创新的、可持续的技术，通过称为脂质体的微小球形囊更有效地将氮输送到作物根部，解决了重新平衡氮循环的全球挑战。这项工作的目标是利用这些脂质体作为氮载体，以减少添加到农田的氮量，并增加植物吸收氮的百分比。这项研究的动机是，与过度使用氮有关的巨大环境和人类健康成本，包括湖泊和沿海水域的富营养化、藻华产生的相关蓝藻毒素、氮基肥料生产产生的温室气体排放、制氮过程产生的农场温室气体排放以及饮用水源受到污染。拟议的技术是解决全球食品挑战的整体解决方案，包括可持续和性能设计标准，以及在设计和开发阶段考虑环境影响。这项拟议中的研究旨在将作物生产从一个净污染系统转变为一个可持续系统，并在保护其繁荣的同时，使养活社会的需求保持一致。由工程师和科学家组成的跨学科团队包括化学过程、运输现象、地球系统中自然资源的运输、可持续材料设计和系统分析方面的集体专业知识。这项研究利用了一种新兴的化学过程，即连续流处理，来开发新的脂质体组合物，从而产生向作物输送氮的新型载体。同位素标记的氮-15将阐明通过土壤-植物系统输送的氮的分配和运输。系统级分析将贯穿整个项目，为材料选择、加工决策和可行性评估提供信息。温室研究的结果将为作物生产和减少淋失氮方面的养分载体性能提供信息。这些数据将用于流域模型，以预测积极的生态系统影响。该团队还将制定计划，通过跨学科的指导、学习和研究方法，在融合、协作的环境中教育和培训跨学科的学生。研究小组将通过设在匹兹堡大学的匹兹堡水研究、教育和推广合作实验室（一个由100多个政府、非政府、倡导、学术合作组织和300多个个人水利益相关者组成的网络）与利益相关者接触，并通过匹兹堡大学在Shenango河流域的实地站Pymatuning生态实验室的项目与公众接触。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。

This project addresses the global challenge of rebalancing the nitrogen cycle by developing an innovative, sustainable technology to deliver nitrogen to crop roots more efficiently using minute spherical sacs called liposomes. The goal of the work is to use these liposomes as nitrogen carriers to reduce the amount of nitrogen that is added to farm fields and increase the percentage of nitrogen that is absorbed by the plant. The research is motivated by the immense environmental and human health costs associated with excess nitrogen use, including eutrophication in lakes and coastal waters, associated cyanotoxins produced by algal blooms, greenhouse gas emissions from production of nitrogen-based fertilizer, on-farm greenhouse gas emissions from nitrogen processes, and contaminated drinking water sources. The proposed technology is a holistic solution to address global food challenges by including sustainable and performance design criteria as well as considering the environmental impacts during the design and development stages. The proposed research aims to transform crop production from a net polluting system to a sustainable system and to align the needs of feeding society while protecting its prosperity.The interdisciplinary team of engineers and scientists includes collective expertise in chemical processes, transport phenomena, transport of natural resources in Earth systems, sustainable material design, and systems analyses. The research leverages an emerging chemical process, continuous flow processing, to develop new liposome compositions that result in novel carriers for delivering nitrogen to crops. Isotopically labeled nitrogen-15 will illuminate partitioning and transport of the delivered nitrogen through soil-plant systems. Systems-level analysis will be integrated throughout the project to inform material choice, processing decisions, and feasibility assessment. Results from greenhouse studies will inform the nutrient carrier performance in terms of crop production and reducing leached nitrogen. These data will be used in a watershed model to project positive ecosystem impacts. The team will also develop initiatives that educate and train students across disciplinary silos in a convergent, collaborative environment through an interdisciplinary approach to mentoring, learning, and research. The research team will engage with stakeholders through the Pittsburgh Collaboratory for Water Research, Education, and Outreach, housed at the University of Pittsburgh (a network of over 100 governmental, non-governmental, advocacy, academic partner organizations, and over 300 individual water stakeholders), and the public through programming at the University of Pittsburgh’s field station, Pymatuning Lab of Ecology, in the Shenango River watershed.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.