Sarick Matzen

GFI Fellow - Class of 2017

Graduate Student, Environmental Science, Policy, and Management Program
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory/UC Berkeley

PROJECT

Investigating Arsenic Bioavailability in the Context of Urban Agriculture

DESCRIPTION

Sarick will analyze plant availability of arsenic in contaminated soils from a proposed community orchard site in Berkeley using a meso-scale column flow-through system. Pteris vittata, an arsenic hyperaccumulating fern used for phytoremediation of arsenic, will be planted in the top of the column. Arsenic availability in the plant rhizosphere will be quantified, and mass balances will be calculated to determine effects of geochemical perturbations (e.g., fertilization) on arsenic cycling in the soil-plant system. Results will help inform use of P. vittata for phytoremediation of contaminated urban agriculture sites, and will help elucidate differences in the behavior of arsenic in the rhizosphere of P. vittata and vegetable crops.

View poster (PDF)