URoL:ASC: Co-producing knowledge, biotechnologies, and practices to enhance biological nitrogen fixation for sustainable agriculture

This project will utilize principles of material science and bioengineering to create biopebbles, particles made of natural polymers that can enhance nitrogen fixation by soil bacteria they will contain, thereby reducing dependency on synthetic fertilizers and their harmful social and environmental effects. Given the disproportionate access to resources to achieve agricultural sustainability among farmers in the developing world and to ensure that the technology developed in this project meets the needs of these populations, the team will collaborate with international science-policy interface organizations, regional agricultural development agencies, agricultural scientists, and small-scale farmers and indigenous communities in Chile to co-design every stage of the research, from concept to field tests and evaluation. The project will provide interdisciplinary training and intercultural competencies to participating American students and help build a more globally oriented workforce. Nitrogen fixed by soil bacteria is a sustainable biofertilizer. However, the efficiency of this process is low, forcing farmers to rely instead on synthetic fertilizers that cause environmental pollution. This project will utilize principles of liquid-liquid phase separation and mathematical/kinetic modeling to create rehydratable microcosms that can be mixed into soil and provide optimum conditions for biological nitrogen fixation. Experiments in field conditions will be conducted to ascertain the extent to which biopebbles can support the growth of crops in the absence of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer. A final assessment of the co-production process will be performed with a combination of in-depth interviews and focus groups, integrating participatory network mapping techniques. 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.