Research

The Secret to Sustainable Soil Management for Turf and Parks

Discover the forefront of research in sustainable soil management for turf and parks through my new comprehensive guide. As a hub for pioneering research projects, this guide explores the latest techniques for nurturing thriving green spaces while prioritizing environmental preservation and public well-being. From efficient water management to drought resilience strategies, soil contamination prevention, and tree care insights, this how-to-guide encapsulates cutting-edge research findings along with an exclusive tutorial on evaluating nutrient content at low cost. Join me in advancing the science behind healthier, eco-conscious communities and greener public spaces.

Investigating Heavy Metal Soil Concentrations in Lafayette, LA Using a Portable Analyzer

While urban soil is a sink for contaminants derived from historical anthropogenic activities, most studies have focused on large urban centers, leaving smaller communities unexplored. This research is a pilot study to determine the significance of metal contamination in Lafayette, Louisiana, a city impacted by a wide range of current and historical industries, highways, and railroads. At least 1000 samples collected within two years across the city will be analyzed for lead, arsenic, nickel, zinc, chromium, and copper by portable X-ray fluorescence in the topsoil in Dr. Paltseva’s new Delta Urban Soil Laboratory. This information will be included in a more extensive soil survey database. The project team builds collaborations with local communities to effectively address exposures to contaminants and foster informed community decision-making for promoting and establishing urban gardens or childhood lead exposure prevention.

Smart Urban Nature Laboratory: Soil quality & Soil health

In collaboration with the Russian University of People Friendship in Moscow, I develop, evaluate and integrate methods to monitor and assess the urban soil quality and health. This includes new techniques using X-Ray Fluorescence and Visible-Near infrared diffuse reflection and a combination of the traditional methods to measure total and bioaccessible (i.e. absorbed by an organism) heavy metal concentrations in soils. For the case of Moscow city, the soil contamination by multiple heavy metals as well as soil buffer capacity was analyzed, mapped, and considered to assess urban soils as geochemical barriers. “Hotspots” of contamination were shown in the central and eastern districts of Moscow with the most intensive traffic and congregation of industries.

Can Soil Speak for Itself? - No... But Art Can Help!

During my years of collaboration with soil artist: Don Hải Phú Daedalus, we have focused on improving the health of urban gardens and soils through art and science. My research concerns heavy metals in soils and the amendments (any material added to a soil to improve its physical and chemical properties) that interact with them, while Don's artistic intervention, the Illinois River Project, tries to connect water ecology and soil health. For example, Don captures invasive carp in the river and converts the bones into phosphorus enriched compost that helps ameliorate toxicity in urban soils.

NYC Soil Lead Contamination

For the last 10 years Brooklyn College Urban Soils Lab has been collecting data on NYC urban soil contamination. Elevated trace metal concentrations, in particular, lead (Pb), are prevalent in urban soils and it is one of the main hurdles for urban agriculture. In this study, the spatial distribution of Pb in NYC gardens was analyzed and visualized by Geographic Information System (GIS) tools. Pollution level and ecological risks of gardens in NYC were evaluated with different indices. Based on the pollution load index, soil quality of the majority of NYC gardens were characterized as polluted. Our findings have important implications for the development of pollution prevention and mitigation strategies to reduce public health risk from garden soil trace metal contamination. Our work was featured in CBS news and New York Post.

Rapid Methods to Determine Lead Levels in Urban Soils

The need to develop fast, affordable methods for total and bioaccessibile (absorbed by an organism) lead is driven by the observed high variability of lead in urban soils and the high variability in bioaccessibility. Our collaborative international team has proposed new approaches for low cost and rapid assessments of soil Pb bioaccessibility that can be conducted in the field using a portable X-Ray Fluorescence (pXRF) analyzer and in the lab using Vis-NIR diffuse reflection with a non-destructive method. We also contributed to the testing of field procedure developed by Columbia University on NYC urban soil.

Some Strategies to Address Contaminated Land

Legacy contamination is still prevalent today and poses a health risk as interest in cultivation of abandoned agricultural lands and vacant lots has grown in recent years. We have investigated the Duke Farms site, located in a suburban area of New Jersey, which is representative of large suburban areas of previously agricultural land in the Eastern U.S. that had been treated with lead and arsenic-containing pesticides decades ago.

At Sterling Community Garden in Brooklyn, which was a highly publicized site, our team assessed the nature and extent of lead and arsenic contamination. We estimated the potential exposure of children to lead and arsenic through direct (ingestion and inhalation) and indirect (consumption of contaminated vegetables) exposure pathways in the same garden. In both case studies we evaluated the effectiveness of amendments on reducing the bioaccessibility and phytoavailability (absorption by plants) of lead and arsenic in soil. In NYC urban community gardens, we have created soils for mitigating Pb exposure and evaluated the use of clean excavated glacial sediments and locally produced compost in collaboration with NYC Mayor’s Office of Environmental Remediation.