Conference: Resilient Phosphorus Supply Chains for National Security: A Workshop for Connecting Across Decision-Makers

Phosphorus is a strategic resource essential for food production, advanced manufacturing, energy technologies, and national defense. Recent federal actions identifying domestic phosphorus supplies as a national security priority underscored the need for stronger coordination among the many organizations responsible for phosphorus production, use, environmental management, and supply-chain resilience. Despite its broad societal importance, research and decision-making related to phosphorus remain fragmented across scientific disciplines, government agencies, industry sectors, and stakeholder communities. This award supports a two-day national workshop, “Resilient Phosphorus Supply Chains for National Security: A Workshop for Connecting Across Decision-Makers”, organized by the U.S. National Science Foundation Science and Technologies for Phosphorus Sustainability (STEPS) Center. The workshop will convene approximately 50 participants representing federal agencies, industry, agriculture, academia, national laboratories, and nongovernmental organizations to identify opportunities for collaboration that strengthen domestic phosphorus supply-chain resilience. These discussions will result in public materials produced from the convening that will support future research and policy development, and advance long-term food security, economic competitiveness, and national preparedness. The workshop will develop a shared understanding of the scientific, technical, economic, environmental, and policy challenges associated with resilient domestic phosphorus supply chains while balancing agricultural productivity, environmental quality, and national security priorities. Participants will represent expertise spanning phosphorus production, critical minerals, agriculture, environmental management, advanced manufacturing, defense applications, economics, and public health. Prior to the workshop, participants will complete a survey to identify priority concerns, knowledge gaps, existing collaborations, and emerging research opportunities that will inform agenda development and breakout group composition. Workshop activities will include policy briefings on recent federal actions affecting phosphorus supply, technical presentations examining domestic production capacity, phosphorus supply chains, strategic end uses, environmental and human health considerations, and economic resilience. These activities will be followed by facilitated breakout sessions emphasizing stakeholder mapping, identification of research priorities, opportunities for data sharing, and strategies for improving cross-sector coordination. Facilitated discussions will guide participants toward consensus recommendations regarding research needs, institutional responsibilities, and mechanisms for sustained collaboration among government agencies, industry, academia, and nongovernmental organizations. Expected products include a publicly available workshop report, an interagency stakeholder coordination matrix documenting organizational roles and collaboration opportunities, an updated phosphorus research roadmap, publicly accessible workshop materials, and a scholarly perspectives article. By integrating expertise across disciplines and institutions that rarely convene within a single forum, the workshop will identify critical knowledge gaps, establish priorities for future interdisciplinary research, strengthen coordination among organizations responsible for phosphorus systems, and advance the scientific foundation needed to improve the sustainability, resilience, and security of domestic phosphorus supply chains. 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.