The 2023 Stony Brook iGEM team strongly believes that in order for our scientific project to be successful, it has to be well-informed, and contain contributions by the members of the community who have been researching the issue of nitrogen runoff for much longer than we have over the summer.

Throughout the project, we extensively combed through literature, spoke to numerous scientific experts, and consulted with stakeholders who were associated with the problem of nitrogen runoff and in the agriculture field. We wanted to engage with communities that have been disproportionately affected by this disorder and integrate human practices within our project. We aimed to design a solution that would address the needs of these communities, both locally on Long Island and globally. Every conversation and discussion we’ve had over the past few months has impacted our project and how we decided to approach it moving forward. This is apparent throughout our Human Practices page.

Throughout this page, we will show every interaction with experts who have been involved with activist and academic research who impacted our project, both big and small.

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Questions We Had

In all of the meetings we attended, we made sure to do the following:

Of course, each meeting was unique and additional questions were asked based on the organization/person. Through these questions, we gained intense knowledge on the problem and held collaborative discussions to enhance our understanding of our research.

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Collier 7/24/23

The SBU 2023 iGEM team engaged in a critical discussion with Dr. Collier, a distinguished researcher specializing in microbial diversity and aquatic ecosystems. Dr. Collier's appreciation for nature and environmental conservation made her acutely aware of the alarming issue of eutrophication, especially in the Long Island and coastal New York regions. She recognized that excess nutrients, primarily stemming from synthetic fertilizers, were causing severe harm to local ecosystems as they flowed into waterways. The iGEM team proposed a novel solution: a Nitroscillator-based biofertilizer designed to address this problem by precisely delivering nitrogen and nutrients to crops based on their needs.

The core concept involved engineering the nitrogenase gene responsible for nitrogen fixation into E. coli bacteria. Dr. Collier applauded the team's progress in expressing nitrogenase through synthetic biology techniques. However, she voiced apprehensions about the practicality of implementing the product. Her initial concern centered on E. coli's pathogenic nature, responsible for causing over 200,000 illnesses annually in the United States, often transmitted through agricultural crops. Introducing potentially harmful bacteria, despite their biofertilizer benefits, might not convince farmers to alter their current practices.

Additionally, Dr. Collier raised concerns about the reliance on numerous chemical inducers in the system. These chemicals, essential for controlling nitrogen gene expression, could prove impractical for farmers to manage and might exacerbate pollution, contradicting the project's sustainability goals. She cautioned against the unintended environmental consequences that these inducers might pose.

Nevertheless, Dr. Collier recognized the project's potential and suggested that it held promise for future development. While it may require significant refinement before application in agriculture, the biofertilizer could presently serve as a valuable tool for biological nitrogen fixation in industrial laboratory settings. This capability could potentially rival the energy-intensive Haber-Bosch process, which relies on harsh conditions and fossil fuels for ammonia synthesis. Some researchers were already exploring more efficient, sustainable alternatives, including lower-temperature catalysts and renewable energy sources for the Haber-Bosch process. In this context, the Nitroscillator-based biofertilizer represented another promising step toward environmentally friendly nitrogen fixation methods.

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Nancy Soloman 7/31/23

Nancy Soloman is the executive director for Long Island Traditions, an organization which works to preserve and document Long Island’s maritime environmental history, as well as the culture of farming throughout the island. Soloman is the author of several books, including “On the Bay: Bay houses & Maritime Culture of Long Island”, and has lectured classes focusing on preservation and documentation for Columbia University and surrounding area colleges. Solomon, along with the rest of Long Island Traditions, works to represent underserved voices in public policy issues.

In our meeting, we learned the history of the Blue Island Oyster company, and how they went out of business due to a sewage treatment plant that opened up nearby. She also described to us how through her work with the Sierra club, she has learned the history of shellfish farmers on Long Island. When heavy rains occur, which tend to be increasing in frequency as climate change becomes more apparent, these farmers are put out of work for days at a time as the result of increased pollution from dramatic runoff. Additionally, when farmers are unable to farm shellfish, they rely on going further offshore to bait crabs; which is increasingly more dangerous. She told us the story of John Aldrige, a maritime farmer who went offshore in an attempt to maintain profit when he was unable to work closer to the shore due to runoff pollution. One day, his boat capsized, and he barely survived the accident. As she described, people used to gravitate towards Long Island for the cleaner quality of water in the region; however this has drastically decreased in recent years.

This was the first meeting that introduced us to the need for educational methods to decrease public overconsumption of nitrogen fertilizers. While Soloman is not a scientist, her background in advocacy for sustainability and preservation of maritime waterways was greatly appreciated and pointed us in a positive direction for our project.

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Michael Claramella 8/3/23

Michael Claramella works at NY Sea Grant, a cooperative program of Cornell University and the SUNY system as a seafood technologist specialist. NY Sea Grant contains a wide array of specialists focussing on diverse areas of maritime environment, including flooding/erosion, microplastic pollution, seafood, and environmental issues.

Claramella's work focuses on the food safety aspect of the seafood industry, including packaging, farming, and sustainability. He gave us background on the causes of nitrogen runoff, which include waste products from animals, overuse of fertilizers, and insufficient waste disposal. He gave us specific examples of these issues on Long Island as well. In eastern Long Island, the main cause of nitrogen runoff comes from densely populated pollutants and inadequate septic systems which drastically contribute to runoff, especially in storm environments. In western Long Island, the main cause of nitrogen runoff is from individual homes, especially large scale mansions, which tend to overuse nitrogen fertilizers in the hope of maintaining a “picture-perfect” green lawn.

The abundance of nitrogen runoff drastically increases the amount of algae blooms that occur in water ecosystems throughout Long Island. These blooms are especially dangerous when it comes to food safety, as they release toxins into the waterways which shellfish intake. Additionally, he described how these blooms prevent maritime farming for businesses, drastically decreasing their operations and affecting their bottom line.

Claramella also introduced us to the idea of how algae blooms cause anoxic conditions - creating an environment where light can not reach the marine flora on the bottom of waterways, drastically reducing the amount of vegetation in these environments. Because these environments serve as nurseries for fish, these conditions decrease the amount of maritime species which can thrive, thus decreasing the amount of fish in these ecosystems. Additionally, he explained how micro-algae can grow and contribute to these anoxic conditions as well as a result of nitrogen runoff.

Claramella gave us insight into current educational programs run through NY Sea Grant focussing on nitrogen runoff. He explained how they do not advertise to totally avoid nitrogen fertilization, but that they try to educate the public to only use the recommended amounts of fertilizers as described in the instructions. He also gave us insight into their push to update Long Island’s waste management systems, with increasing the efficiency of septic tanks as well as introducing sewage treatment systems in highly densified areas. He stated that a major reason the Water Quality Restoration Act did not pass is because individuals do not see the effects of nitrogen runoff in their day-to-day life. Additionally, if these measures are approved eventually they will be costly and will take several years to be put into effect if approved.

Lastly, Claramella gave us advice to look into the research to make sure that our project would not inadvertently hurt the shellfish populations we hope to protect. Additionally, he agreed that the project should be coupled with an extensive educational program if our product was to hit the market for industrial/consumer use. He warned us of the adversity that farmers might have to implement a new type of fertilizer into their farms, and that they would most likely only be willing if it increased productivity or decreased operating costs. However, he suggested that our project would be ideal for individuals who hope to decrease their environmental impact on a smaller scale - whether it be on their lawns or in their small gardens. He ended our meeting by giving us additional people to reach out to who specialize in eutrophication and are also doing research on similar issues.

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Barry Udelson 8/7/23

Barry Udelson works at NY Sea Grant, a cooperative program of Cornell University and the SUNY system as an agriculture specialist. NY Sea Grant contains a wide array of specialists focussing on diverse areas of maritime environment, including flooding/erosion, microplastic pollution, seafood, and environmental issues.

The majority of Udelson’s work focuses on connecting farmers and lobbyists together, especially those who farm shellfish and finfish, as well as sugar kelp farmers. Because his job is state funded, he is not able to be a lobbyist, but he has a background in lobbying for the agricultural industry. He pointed us in the direction of precious research completed in Suffolk county, specifically in Huntington.

When asked about nitrogen runoff mitigation methods, Udelson highlighted the importance of educating the public on proper usage of nitrogen fertilizers, as well as highlighting the effects of these fertilizers on the environment. He also explained how natural fertilizers, such as dried kelp, could one day serve as a more effective fertilizer than nitrogen ones, however they simply aren’t feasible for mass agriculture yet.

When asked about the issues of septic tanks on Long Island, Udelson highlighted the need for updates to the current tanks. He explained how nitrogen waste in these tanks can take over a decade to reach water ways, and that homes closer to the shore and major waterways should be of first priority for these updates and countermeasures focussing to decrease nitrogen runoff. Lastly, we asked him to point us in the direction of additional research we should look into.

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James Ammerman 8/7/23

James Ammerman works as the Science Coordinator at the Long Island Sound. He is also an environmental analyst at NEIWPCC (New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission) and worked as the director for the New York Sea Grant from 2008 to 2013. Moreover, he is an adjunct professor at Stony Brook’s SOMAS (School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences). He got his Ph.D in oceanography at UCSD; he currently studies phosphorus recycling and effect on estuaries, aquatic microbial ecology, and coastal eutrophication. We decided to reach out to him to learn more about the problems surrounding nitrogen runoff from a wide array of perspectives. We wanted to get his input on our project and potential contributions it has to the real world.

Dr. Ammerman described the Haber-Bosch process and how it releases a lot of nitrogen into the waterways, which has now become a global problem. He mentioned how fertilizer use exploded in the 50s, but the increase in the usage of nitrogen fertilizer is tremendous. Waterways such as the Long Island Sound, Chesapeake Bay, and the Gulf of Mexico have immense amounts of nitrogen runoff caused by waste distribution, leading to detrimental effects. In the Chesapeake Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, specifically, nitrogen runoff is caused by agriculture and there has been slight improvement due to little nitrogen reduction.

The situation was predicted to improve due to the establishment and upgrading of treatment plants as ¾ of Suffolk County uses septic tanks; however, septic tanks take a long time to reduce nitrogen runoff. Dr. Ammerman and his colleagues did a review of the watershed and determined that the majority of the nitrogen came from homes near the water. In addition, a lot of Suffolk County is too dispersed for septic tank improvements to have an immediate effect on nitrogen runoff. Currently, there is an issue with putting ballot measures on improving sewage and septic systems. The country has failed to pass legislation to improve septic systems.

Dr. Ammerman also mentioned that runoff from rainwater is caused by bacterial contamination, leading to the closing of shellfish fishing. Bacterial runoff after large rainfall has affected the flora and fauna in waterways by creating dead zones or hypoxic regions in the Western Sound, reducing the amount of oxygen supply in the water. Right now the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water is around 3 mg/L, the normal amount should be 8 mg/L. Nearly ⅓ of the Long Island Sound experienced hypoxia in 1994, while now it is around 100 square meters. One of the main impacts is on the life of seagrass, which is a plant that produces seeds and lives near the shallow ends of water near the bay; they require good water quality. It is an urgent matter as there are less than 100 acres of seagrass left.

We’ve also learned some mitigation measures, which includes upgrading septic systems for nitrogen removal, and the difference between point and nonpoint source. Point source refers to industrialized plants, while nonpoint source refers to agricultural runoff.

Dr. Ammerman emphasized the importance of educating the public about the issue at hand as behavioral changes are hard to make. Since Long Island is very sandy, liquid permeates into the sand and into waterways. According to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), there is a law that forbids fertilizer use on lawns during the winter months; however, it is largely ignored as it was vetoed by President Nixon, overridden by Congress, and does not regulate agriculture. Education and behavior change is the most important.

After our meeting, Dr. Ammerman suggested several links to learn more about nitrogen runoff and eutrophication. From these sources, we’ve learned that higher precipitation and rainfall may interfere with the efficiency of nitrogen removal at the wastewater filtration plants. A large amount of nitrogen runoff— cause for eutrophication— comes from industrial plants and agricultural farms. This may cause hypoxia, which is a decrease in oxygen levels in the water, leading to suffocation. A clean water supply is essential for marine animals such as the eelgrass as well as for humans. Laws have been passed to reduce the use of nitrogen fertilizers, especially between the months of November and April, but there is still an increase in nitrogen in public water sources. This is mainly due to quick-release fertilizers and lack of understanding on fertilizer labels.

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Aaron Ristow 8/9/23

Aaron Ristow is a senior agriculture specialist who works with the American Farmland Trust. He is currently working with farms regarding environmental conservatism—helping farmers adopt sustainable farming practices; he did his masters on soil agriculture and worked at the Cornell Soil Health Program as well. We wanted to meet with Aaron to discuss the critical role of nitrogen fertilizers on crop yield as well as the detrimental effects that agriculture has on the environment in terms of nitrogen fertilizer runoff.

We began our conversation by talking about the effects of nitrogen runoff. Aaron started off by stating how nitrogen affects water quality, greenhouse gas emissions (nitrogen and methane) and reduces the source of excessive nutrients in the soil that is in the runoff. We then proceeded to ask him about the feasibility and real life applications of our synthetic fertilizer. As a farmer himself, Aaron mentioned that farmers have a lot of risks in their business and are in tune with the amount of fertilizers they are using; therefore, they are hesitant to accept new changes in general— it doesn’t have to be the fertilizer. Our fertilizer would have to withstand various climatic conditions to prove its efficacy. However, despite all this, farmers do want to reduce the input of nitrogen in the environment and the amount of fertilizer they are using. For concentrated areas with over 300 livestocks like cows, regulations in nutrient addition and inspections will be implemented.

However, individual households and homeowners’ usage of nitrogen fertilizers are not regulated like large farms. Our project will relate more to individuals than farmers. In addition, farmers don’t want to spray water on their fields and IPTG with Arabinose will probably be more effective in manure unless it’s Miracle Gro and can grow in a few days. Our approach will be more effective in smaller farms with around 200-500 acres and will probably result in a higher cost in vegetables. Since farms are usually run by 1-2 people, additional labor may not be feasible.

Lastly, Aaron referred us to PivotBio, which is a company that genetically modified and fixed bacteria to make nitrogen for corn.

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Devon Case 8/16/23

Devon Case is an environmental analyst at NEIWPCC. He explained NEIWPCC to us and how the organization was enacted by Congress along with EPA to improve water quality. NEIWPCC is also partnered with the Long Island Sound Study. He worked closely with the municipalities and specialized in the impact of nitrogen runoff as well as nonpoint source pollution.

Devon explained to us the meaning of TMDL, which stands for total maximum daily load, as it is a phrase and acronym that we came across quite frequently during our article searches. TMDL is also explained as the amount a body of water can take of a certain nutrient. In addition, the government decides what each body of water can be used for—whether it be consumption or recreation.

We asked Devon to let us know the impacts nitrogen runoff has on his organization. He stated that he and his team hosted work and group meetings to identify the non-point source. He also mentioned Section 319 of the Clean Water Act that was passed in 1987 and how it provides grants to institutions to fund nonpoint source projects. He also gave us a clearer definition of nonpoint source pollution and some potential causes, which pointed out includes agriculture, forestry, construction, and other miscellaneous urban activities. Nonpoint sources are caused by rainfall when it washes over the land and picks up pollutants and deposits it in groundwater, which later flows to lakes, rivers, and larger coastal waterways. point source is more sewage/industrial plants while nonpoint is agricultural runoff and fertilizers.

Devon mentioned that the state is taking priority over watersheds and looking at disadvantaged communities to measure and sample for contaminants in their water sources. He mentioned BMPs, which stands for Best Management Practice, and introduced us to a retrofit manual that talked about the effectiveness of BMPs on reducing nitrogen runoff. He highlighted the most effective methods: from bioretention, rain gardens, tree walls, urban sidewalks to permeable pavements for washing speed reduction and retention ponds. It is noted that states must enforce these policies to some extent or else they will get fined.

Afterwards, we asked him for some feedback on our project to see what we can improve on. He stated that the public may not be as flexible and open-minded with certain ideas, especially when it could potentially cause failure of farms, affecting farmers. He advised us to start on a smaller scale then build up to a larger scale, which we plan on incorporating in our project. In addition, he emphasized the importance of educating the general public as some communities may get “annoyed” when they don’t understand the nomenclature; however, there will be communities that will be open-minded, accepting, and willing to learn. He advised us to do more educational campaigns and community outreach, which we incorporated and done by printing out flyers around the university and educating more students about synthetic biology.

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Jennifer McGivern 8/24/23

Jennifer McGivern is a senior environmental analyst in the Suffolk County Department of Economic Development and Planning. She manages the county’s Fertilizer Reduction Program. The program operates in coordination with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County and their Turf Specialist, Tamsen Yeh, who has an abundance of knowledge on fertilizer products. She highlighted our project’s potential to address excess nitrogen inputs from fertilizers and offered inputs on the regulatory aspects of the county’s program.

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Summary

Through the meeting we had with a wide range of people, the 2023 iGEM team came to the following conclusions:

• There is a need to educate the public on the proper usage of Nitrogen Fertilizers
• Nitrogen runoff is not a one-step solution, and will require a mix of legislature change as well as individual action
• The majority of nitrogen runoff on Long Island occurs from houses, rather than large scale agriculture

Through the meetings with consultants, scientists, and advocates, we realized that our initial approach of targeting our research towards large scale agriculture was not feasible. Instead, we redesigned our target application: small scale gardens and individuals who hope to decrease their harm on the environment at their homes. Like any project, we believe that our research could lay the groundwork for future implications on a larger scale as fertilizer use in agriculture isn’t regulated as strictly, but we recognize that a smaller scale is more feasible.