Research Initiation Awards provide support for junior and mid-career faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities who are building new research programs or redirecting and rebuilding existing research programs. It is expected that the award helps to further the faculty member's research capability and effectiveness, improves research and teaching at his home institution, and involves undergraduate students in research experiences. The project at Texas Southern University has potential broader impact in a number of areas. The goal of the project is to develop a comprehensive understanding of the landscape factors on mercury loading and distribution in the East Tennessee watersheds of the Oak Ridge Reservation. This project will also enhance the research experience and training of undergraduate and graduate students at Texas Southern University.
The three specific objectives of the project include: characterizing the spatial and temporal trends of mercury bioaccumulation in watersheds; identifying and analyzing the influence of land use and land cover changes on the mercury dynamics in the watersheds; and investigating the fate and transport of mercury across the landscape. The first objective will be achieved by acquiring, assembling and interpreting both the spatial and long-term analytical data of all the sample media of the watersheds that drain the Oak Ridge reservation. Spatial and temporal analysis of the data will be conducted to identify the mercury concentration and bioaccumulation trends. The second objective will be achieved by quantifying the land use and land cover changes using time series aerial and satellite imagery. Quantitative relationships between the changes in landscape factors to mercury bioaccumulation will be established. The third objective will be achieved by superimposing and analyzing the hydrologic flow paths with watershed delineations, soil and sediment erosion rates, wetlands and other landscape factors with the available long term mercury analytical data.
