USI Research Agenda 2019-2020

The following are the current research topics that USI is undertaking in collaboration with members of the USI Collaborative Research Network, our Extended Team Partners, our communities, stakeholders, individuals, and other entities.

All research investigations are led by the USI and are ethically managed. All partners agree to the ethics protocol. We believe in high standards of research ethics where ideas, work, and data is credited, sourced, cited, and protected, and where relationships are respected and maintained. Honesty, decency, and integrity are the cornerstones of our community.

All of our research is carried out with a holistic approach, considering all the parts that make up the whole; where parts and wholes can be investigated together in a collaboration uniting various disciplines and approaches. We believe that this allows for better application and understanding of the topic and how it fits into larger problems or decision-making. It is imperative to our understanding of ecosystems, of  humankind in its habitat.

CADMIUM FATE AND TRANSPORT STUDY (CURRENT)

Lead concentrations are a common focus of soil contamination studies in urban centers, which in our experience, has resulted in other potentially harmful heavy metal contaminants such as cadmium to fall by the wayside. Significantly more research exists on lead contamination in cities relative to any other heavy metal. As we looked into other studies, it is apparent that there is a lack of a comprehensive investigation into the fate, transport, and cumulative/individual effects of Cd, not only on our human health and the overall health of our ecosystems, but in the potential remediation or reduction of elevated exposures of Cd into our ecosystems. How did cadmium exposure become commonplace in our daily lives (through food, water, non-consumables, soils, composts), when the natural abundance levels are much lower? What is the source, fate, and transport of Cadmium in our anthropogenic and natural settings? What are the mitigation strategies for Cd levels in compost?

• USI is currently working on a literature review of Cadmium fate and transport studies done in both anthropogenic and natural environments, as well as Cd effects on humans and animals.

• USI seeks to identify the quantitative differences between solid fertilizer application and foliar application in terms of heavy metal abundance in the final product. 

• USI is conducting a study on developing a Cd-free compost.

COMPOST ASSESSMENT AND APPLICATION (ACTIVE / ON-GOING)

USI is working towards defining best end-uses for various compost types and qualities. In generating compost quality assessment standards, USI will create soil mixes for specified applications that will become available to the public. How do the various processes within the composting process infer the quality and complexity of the end product? How to assess a compost for chelating capacity, its stability, and lifetime? What quality and quantity of organic matter waste should be added to improve soil health?

An investigation into the processes, complexities, and qualities of different composts, and standardization for compost quality assessment for NYC composts.: To identify the complexity and quality of different composts and assess the methods used, create educational windows into the processes occurring throughout the composting period that can inform the best compost method for the type of compost, identify optimal end-uses for each compost type and quality,to identify the quality and the quantity of organic matter waste which should be added to improve soil health, and to generate an optimal complex end product with optimized chelating capacity.

Microbial Remediation

Which soil conditions or other environmental factors contribute to a microbe’s or microbial community’s success at remediating contaminants? What microbial communities (with a focus on fungi) are already there and what stimulates them? Case studies across contaminated sites in NYC.

Biosolids for remediation

A look into biosolids remediation capacities and endurance for lead and other metal contamination-mitigation. Case Study: El Jardin

Biodiversity and “Invasives”

When you get ecosystem development and have “invasives.” Do you get a potential for increased or decreased biodiversity with “native” and “non-native” pollinators?

Soil Development Under Different Landscape Management—A Case Study at Green-Wood Cemetery

Our research here aims to: (1) describe the evolution and pedogenesis of urban soil influenced by human impact; (2) evaluate the interaction between humans, rhizosphere, and topography and their effects on the vertical and horizontal distribution of SOC in Topsoil and Subsoil; (3) to develop a formalism to model the water transfer adapted to a spatially and temporally dynamic porous media; (4) integrate the carbon and nitrogen cycle to this model to estimate the quantity of SOC storage in urban soil and their capacity of denitrification. 

making soils (ACTIVE / ON-GOING)

Can a constructed soil mimic a natural soil and optimize functional capacities for specific urban applications (various types of GI, contamination remediation, and restoration of degraded soils, ecosystems, and habitats) How ion regulation by interfacial matrices: humus, clay, and fine root surface area control fate and transport of metals in soil horizons. What are the incremental impacts of rhizosphere development on cation availability on mixed clay substrates/loam-on natural and engineered soils?

Heavy Metals Fate and Transport

How contaminants are distributed in soil structurally throughout the horizons in gardens in the city and beyond (farms, cemeteries, industrial sites…)

What are Soils to You? 

How are people’s perceptions and concerns about soils changing with more exposure to resources and education about soils?

pXRF—A Research Tool

To evaluate the validity of the pXRF  as an alternative analytical tool to the ICP-MS for soil, leachate, compost, and vegetation investigations.