Essential Element
Phosphorus is an essential element to life, underpinning many critical biological processes and driving the productivity and sustainability of global food systems.
The Science and Technologies for Phosphorus Sustainability (STEPS) Center is a convergence research community of diverse and leading scientists that addresses the complex challenges in phosphorus sustainability by integrating disciplinary contributions across the physical, life, social, and economic sciences. The STEPS vision is to facilitate a 25% reduction in human dependence on mined phosphates and a 25% reduction in losses of point and non-point sources of phosphorus to soils and water resources within 25 years, leading to enhanced resilience of food systems and reduced environmental damage.
The STEPS Partnership Program
STEPS REU Program
STEPS will support 15 students for ten weeks during Summer 2026 through a multi-institutional Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program.
Multi-institutional Research Experience
Convergence research through a collaborative cohort project.
Projects that align research and career interests.
A Roadmap to Phosphorus Sustainability
🎙️Have you caught our latest podcast episodes? PhosForUs, a podcast created by STEPS scholars, explores the many facets of phosphorus sustainability.
💦 In a recent episode, scholar Barira Rashid talks with Dr. Becca Meunich about how scientists can help shape smarter science policy around phosphorus.
🎧 You can find PhosForUs on Spotify and Apple Podcasts! Link directly to our latest episde, "From Watersheds to Washington: How Science Can Shape Smarter Policy" in the first comment.
🏆Congratulations to our October Scholar of the Month, Cameron Good! Cameron is a graduate student in NC State`s Learning and Teaching in STEM PhD program, with a concentration in Science Education.
🌿Cameron is primarily interested in studying informal science education settings. Her current research involves interviewing informal science educators about the impacts of federal policy changes on their institutions. For her dissertation, she hopes to study how awe is experienced in science centers, and how that contributes to motivation and future learning. Her advisor, Dr. Gail Jones, compliments her innovative work and self-determination. She is noted as a valuable member of their research team who exemplifies the qualities of an outstanding STEPS Scholar.
Fun fact: Outside of her research, Cameron enjoys ballroom dancing as one of her hobbies! 💃
Are we over-feeding our crops? 🥔🌾
For years, farmers have added phosphorus to boost soil fertility, but new research from STEPS collaborators reveals a striking truth: more fertilizer isn`t always better. At one site, skipping phosphorus cut potato yields by 53%. At another nearby field, adding extra P did nothing at all.
Researchers studied potato farms in Northeast Florida to assess whether standard soil tests accurately predict if crops actually need more phosphorus.
Why is this work important?
For farmers: Precise soil calibration prevents throwing money away on unnecessary fertilizer while protecting crop yields.
For the planet: Excess phosphorus can leach out of sandy soils into surrounding waterways, feeding algal blooms. Applying only what the crop can use keeps rivers and lakes clean.
For consumers: Sustainable soil management ensures resilient, cost-effective food production for the potato chips and fries we love.
Refining soil-test guidelines allows us to farm smarter—distinguishing soils that truly need nutrients from those that are already set up for success.
Link to paper in the first comment👇
🥳 We just turned 5—now what?! Take a peek to hear what`s in store for STEPS in our next five years!
#nsffunded #research #phosphorus #sustainability
Happy anniversary to us! Today we mark 5 years as a convergence research center focused on phosphorus sustainability. We have accomplished a lot with our exceptional team, but we know we have more work to do. We are excited for our next 5 years!
#phosphorus #nsffunded #sustainability #research #foodsecurity
We are grateful for the Florida Museum of Science`s feature on our work in STEPS! It`s great storytelling about the work we do, and it`s a beautiful digital piece to boot. Check it out: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/dc8b9a91173e4aa49a8b256fe02460e5
🧑🔬We are thrilled today to share our Scholars of the Month for June, July, & August! Each of these highlighted scholars plays an important role in the STEPS Center, and we love celebrating their contributions. Shwetha, Berson, and Eduart`s research advances our mission of phosphorus sustainability.
👏They also serve as scholar-leaders, and we are so grateful for the ways they all make STEPS a great convergence research center!
#nsffunded #phosphorus #sustainability #research
It`s National Postdoc Appreciation Week—and wow, we are so lucky to have so many incredible postdocs on the STEPS Center team! Look at all these amazing researchers. 🤩 They are critical to advancing our goals and helping us work in convergent ways. Thank you for all that you do for the STEPS Center! 👏
#NPAW26 #postdocs
❓If better soil testing gives farmers a clearer picture of legacy phosphorus in their fields, will they use less fertilizer? Standard intuition says yes—but our latest research reveals a more complicated story.
🚜 Decades of intensive fertilizer use have left large stocks of legacy phosphorus in cropland soils across the US. Yet, high fertilizer application persists. A long-held hypothesis suggests that farmers simply lack accurate information about their soil`s nutrient levels, and that enhanced soil testing would naturally lead to reduced application.
To test this, STEPS researchers developed the first dynamic economic analysis of soil nutrient testing using a "partial-observability Markov decision process." Parameterized with over a decade of corn field trial data from eastern North Carolina, the model accounts for fertilizer price volatility, farmer risk aversion, and time preferences.
Here is what the model revealed:
🧪At low soil phosphorus levels: Enhanced testing is highly valuable. It gives profit-maximizing farmers the precise data needed to tailor and optimize subsequent fertilizer inputs.
🌽 At high legacy phosphorus levels: Contrary to popular belief, enhanced testing does not reduce optimal fertilizer inputs.
The takeaway for policy:
If we want to reduce phosphorus runoff and environmental externalities, relying solely on improved soil testing won`t be a magic solution in areas with high legacy nutrient stocks. Effective agricultural policies must address the underlying economic incentives and risk factors driving farm-level decisions.
📄 Read the full study: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajae.70095
#Phosphorus #SustainableAgriculture #AgEconomics #NSFfunded
Congratulations to STEPS Scholar Quintino Medi! This week, Quintino was presented with the Student Leadership award at the American Center for Life Cycle Analysis conference in San Diego, CA. Quintino also presented a poster on his research, comparative life cycle assessment of a variety of phophate field testing techniques. Kudos, Quintino!
🚨 New paper alert! 🚨
How can we safely neutralize toxic organophosphate pollutants without causing secondary environmental contamination? 🧪💧
In a new study published in ACS ES&T Engineering, STEPS researchers demonstrate a stable, hydrogel-based catalytic system designed for sustainable water remediation. Our team investigated how molybdate breaks down organophosphate (OP) compounds—which range from agricultural pollutants to chemical warfare agent simulants—and engineered a eco-friendly material for practical cleanup.
Key findings include:
⚡ A Milestone Discovery: The study reports the first-ever example of molybdate catalyzing the breakdown of DMNP (a chemical warfare agent simulant), opening new possibilities for toxic chemical neutralization.
🔬 Understanding the Mechanism: Using NMR spectroscopy, researchers uncovered how subtle differences in a pollutant`s molecular structure dictate how it interacts with the catalyst and operates across different pH levels.
🧽 A Scalable, Green Platform: To prevent metal toxicity from free molybdate in water, the team immobilized the active catalyst inside a hydrogel matrix. This hybrid material matched the rapid degradation rates of liquid catalysts while keeping the catalyst contained and reusable.
This innovative research provides a practical, scalable path forward.
We are proud of STEPS researcher Sergei Rigin for having the cover article in Macromolecules last month! 😍 His paper, “Mapping the Morphological Landscape of Dry Hydrophilic Brushes,” was authored with STEPS faculty Yara Yingling and Jan Genzer.
Dry polymer brushes are relevant to applications ranging from sensing and separation to environmental remediation, yet their morphology in the absence of solvent remains much less understood than that of solvated brushes.
In this study, they used coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations to examine how chain length and grafting density shape the morphology of dry PEO brushes. They developed a phase diagram with three regimes, mushroom, crossover, and brush, and mapped how the structures evolve between them.
🔗 Read it: https://pubs.acs.org/mamobx/article/59/15/8768/5204953/Mapping-the-Morphological-Landscape-of-Dry
