The hosting of the 6th International Phytotechnologies Conference in St. Louis Missouri by the International Phytotechnologies Society offers a unique opportunity for educational experiences directly relating to sustainable remediation and development, which was recently announced as EPA's initiative on green remediation stating that all site cleanups will consider 5 new factors: 1) Total Energy Use and Renewable Energy Use; 2) Air Pollutants and Greenhouse Gas Emissions; 3) Water Use and Impacts to Water Resources; 4) Materials Management and Waste Reduction; and 5) Land Management and Ecosystems Protection. No remediation is greener than phytoremediation and related technologies presented at the conference also cover green roofs, site redevelopment and storm water management. The conference put on by the International Phytotechnologies Society occurs this fall and this emerging national initiative could not be better timed, and we propose to utilize this opportunity in a unique educational program. The International Phytotechnologies Scholars Program for the first time. The Phyto Scholars program takes advantage of the opportunities provided at the conference venue. This program built out of previous support by BP to assist students to attend the previous Phytotechnologies conferences. In the Phyto Scholars Program, students will be invited to the conference and supported to attend. Their attendance will also be directly related to educational objectives they select. Many of these students will be presenting research, and others attending as part of the scholars program may be part of their first exposure to phytoremediation and related research topics. Many will be undergraduate students and early career graduate students attending their first international conference, and whose careers may be impacted by their exposure to technologies that will likely be in increasing demand.
Each student will submit a self-generated learning goal and related objectives, using the attached template. Students will plan out the sessions and topics they will attend and integrate these topics to address their own objectives and career goals. By planning out the sessions and talks the Phyto Scholars will be attending, each will be encouraged to look into research articles from the presenters. In doing background research, scholars will better be able comprehend the cutting edge research presented at the conference and engage in meaningful discussions at the conference. Each Phyto Scholar in the program will also attend a scholars luncheon, where they will be seated with a member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Phytoremediation. These established leaders in the field will be able to interact with the students and discuss the advancement of phytoremediation research through their careers and answers questions of the students. Following the conference, students will be asked to submit a short summary of their learning as part of the Phyto Scholars Program. The compiled summaries will be the deliverables from the Phyto Scholars Program. As the majority of the scholars will be from the continental US, the international aspects of International Phytotechnologies Scholars program will also be a unique experience for the students in the program. The conference has abstracts submitted by reseachers from 26 different countries. The conference also marks the return of the conference to US soil after the 5th international conference was held in Nanjing China in 2008. An estimated 100 students will be invited to participate and the costs noted in this proposal are best estimates, based on the most current data. Each student in the Phyto Scholars Program will have their lodging and registration covered through this effort, and each student will also be offered a travel support for travelling from domestic institutions. The Phyto Scholars Program is offered in coordination with the International Phytotechnologies Society. The society officers and conference planners will serve as the advisors for the scholars program, with no personal compensation. They will serve to recruit and select the students that will participate.
Final Report: International Phytotechnologies Scholars Program The hosting of the 6th International Phytotechnologies Conference in St. Louis Missouri by the International Phytotechnologies Society offered a unique opportunity for educational experiences directly relating to sustainable remediation and development, which was recently announced as EPA’s initiative on green remediation (www.clu-in.org/greenremediation/) that was signed into practice 8/27/09 stating that all site cleanups will consider 5 new factors: Total Energy Use and Renewable Energy Use; Air Pollutants and Greenhouse Gas Emissions; Water Use and Impacts to Water Resources; Materials Management and Waste Reduction; and Land Management and Ecosystems Protection. Considering these factors and the field of phytoremediation as it now stands, students prepared ahead of time and submitted learning objectives for attending the conference and plans regarding the talks to attend for meeting their objectives. The summaries attached represent a sampling of the materials the students learned at the conference and the self-established learning objectives helped them negotiate the conference and multiple tracks to address the areas of interest to themselves. Many of the students not only learned the material they saw at the conference, but they also synthesized new ideas from the talks they went to and the conversations they had at the conference. Many students approached me during the conference and asked questions like "in the talk by ____ I wondered why they did not consider ____ impacts? Has that been studied?" I was amazed at the level of thought they had put into discussions and what they had learned from their experience. Following the conference students were asked to write a short report on their learning accomplished through the PhytoScholars program. The submitted reports were very insightful to what unique aspects of the conference contributed to their learning experience (available upon request). Seventy three students (list available upon request) were supported to attend the conference, with the majority being from Midwestern schools and from the Midwest with little exposure to the diversity represented in the scholar’s program and the conference overall. Students attended from at least 13 different countries representing 5 continents. Of the 73 student scholars, 33 were female and 40 were male. The diversity of the group in terms of academic standing (undergraduate vs graduate), country of origin, and gender was outstanding. The scholars also socially engaged to a great deal, with the local students leading activities in the downtown St. Louis area, including an organized visit for many of the scholars to the Gateway Arch and Museum of Westward expansion. The scholars program certainly had a broad impact on the scholars. The Scholars’ luncheon was noted as a great activity. The luncheon in St. Louis had one or two leaders of the research field at tables and six or seven students would chose to join the various leaders, and often matching the experts with topics they had selected for their learning objectives. The students had a chance to probe the experiences of the people that authored many of the seminal papers in the field. Students and leaders (i.e. ‘old folks’) all commented on the lunch setting as being a great experience. The ‘old folks’ noted the enthusiasm and the bright young minds in the field and the scholars noted how inspirational it was to meet with the famous people in the field. Multiple students noted how amazed they were to hear how the ‘old folks’ had advanced from being at the same stage of career that they now occupied and the paths that academic and research careers had taken. Similar activities (dinner, reception) were held at the 7th International Phytotechnologies Conference (Parma, Italy Sept. 2010) and planned for the next conference in Portland, Oregon in September 2011. Overall the scholars program went over very well and not only increased the scientific knowledge of many young scholars, but also greatly increased the creativity and expanded the experience base in academic and ethnic diversity of the young scholars. The scholars program was such an overwhelming success, it was carried out at the 2010 Phyto Conference in Italy. NIEHS supported the effort, and now scholar’s programs are planned for future Phyto Conferences. The remaining funds after the St. Louis conference were applied to support a special issue of the International Journal of Phytoremediation, containing an article on the conference overview and the scholar’s program . All scholars will receive a copy of the issue. The little remaining funds also supported materials (portfolios, printouts) for the 2010 Phyto Scholar’s Program. This initial effort from NSF was truly transformative for the International Phytotechnologies Society and certainly will have great intellectual impact for the next generation of researchers and practitioners in phytoremediation and natural treatment systems. The PI plans to offer an international course in phytoremediation based upon the idea of focused learning and tele-lectures by the preeminent researchers from around the globe.
