A collaborative research project that has University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point students and faculty and a UW-Madison faculty investigating how to remove industrial toxins from soil will be among those featured at the state Capitol building in Madison next month.
“I just find the topic really fascinating,” said senior biochemistry major Danielle Singkofer, Wausau, of the project. The team is using hemp and alfalfa plant tissues for the remediation of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), which are dubbed “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down easily in the environment or human body and have been linked to health issues.
The results of this research will be presented at the annual Universities of Wisconsin Research in the Rotunda on April 2, featuring the work of more than a dozen students and five professors from the UWSP College of Letters and Science and College of Natural Resources and the collaborator at UW-Madison.
The project focuses on the collaborative work of students extracting PFAS from plants and soils, then quantifying the extracts with liquid chromatography mass spectroscopy under the supervision of Professors Shannon Riha and Joe Mondloch. The data is used to analyze the effectiveness of the plant tissues against PFAS contamination in soils, under the guidance of biology Professors Brian Barringer and Ann Impullitti. The soil samples are further analyzed to quantify bacteria, with a particular focus on those that are involved in nutrient cycling and their relationship to plant health.
Singkofer said their data will demonstrate which parts, roots, shoots and flowers of the hemp and alfalfa are the best at sequestering chemicals from the soil samples.
“It has been interesting trying to figure out where in the plant the contaminants get taken up. It’s an optimistic and viable option for cleaning up the environment,” Singkofer said.
Although this is her first research presentation at the Capitol rotunda, Singkofer has previously worked as part of several research projects at UW-Stevens Point. She joined a composting study to begin the research experience as soon as she could after transferring from UW-Madison to be closer to home. Last year Singkofer worked in the UWSP greenhouse studying the impacts of topping, removing the main shoot of cannabis sativa at various stages in the plant development. For the current research in PFAS, she works in the chemistry lab up to 15 hours weekly.
“We are all here to learn. We’re all here to help each other,” she said. “It’s just a really great environment, meeting people you otherwise would not work with; and you gain a lot of confidence.”
The team remains in regular communication through the process. Singkofer said. Riha manages the chemistry research team, some who had limited lab experience before the PFAS project. In the coming weeks, the students will prepare the final data sets for their presentation. Riha said she will sit down with her lab group and explain the conclusions that can be drawn from the data.
“With such large data sets, this can be intimidating for many students,” said Riha. “One thing that impressed me about this group of students is how insistent they are about working up and understanding the data, so I am really enjoying teaching them.”
The research students will have some nerves no doubt when presenting their work to a large audience at the state Capitol. Riha said she reminds them often that they know more about the science than their Research in the Rotunda audience will.
Senior biology major Josephine Crisci is from Waukesha, Wis. She said her part of the project work has been invaluable experience as she aspires to work in biotechnology focused on agriculture or human health. Her role began last summer as the cannabis plants they would study were first planted and concentrations of PFAS were applied.
After the harvest, Crisci worked to study the microbial communities in the soil and how the bacteria responded with different levels of PFAS in the samples. Making sure the data was well organized as research assistants take turns performing tests in the lab is vital.
“I’ve learned that I’m good at communicating with others and especially documentation,” she said. “We’ve been seeing those differences in terms of microbial colony quantities and dilution of the soil.”
The work has further motivated Singkofer to pursue her prospective career path in the analytical chemistry field after graduation.
“I honestly fell in love – the more I worked in the lab, the more I wanted to learn,” she said.
