Research

Utah Lake Water Quality Study: Utah Lake Sediment Phosphorus Binding

The Utah Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Water Quality (DWQ) is contracting with Brigham Young University’s Research Team (Dr. Josh LeMonte, Dr. Stephen Nelson, and Dr. Greg Carling) to conduct a phosphorus mineralogy study to help understand the role of mineral binding on the bioavailability, uptake and release of colloidal and particulate phosphorus (P) in Utah Lake.

Transforming Water Education to Address the Global Water Crisis

Benjamin W. Abbott, Ryan S. Nixon, Keely Song Glenn, Daniel P. Ames, Elizabeth Gibbons Bailey, Greg Carling, Joshua LeMonte, Richard Gill, Bryan G. Hopkins

Improving water security through sustainable management depends on an accurate understanding of human-water interactions. However, pervasive misconceptions of the water cycle persist among policymakers and the public, including where water comes from, how humans affect it, and how much is available for use. In a world where water mismanagement kills millions and causes trillions in economic damages each year, correcting water misconceptions has graduated from an academic exercise to a planetary priority. Here, we propose to transform how the water cycle is taught through three interrelated activities: 1. Create images, animations, performances, and interactive software that integrate current hydrological understanding from local to global scales, 2. Explore the effect of improved water cycle representations on elementary teacher instruction and undergraduate knowledge, and 3. Flood the world with the pedagogical products from activities 1 and 2 using traditional and novel dissemination channels. Our interdisciplinary team will combine cutting-edge hydrological, educational, and social sciences with innovative artistic design and outreach to transform how we teach water. Funds will be used to recruit a postdoctoral fellow, engage 25 undergraduate students in mentored research, and cover teacher participation stipends. These activities will lead to up to 9 external funding applications, the creation of open-source images and software, at least 7 peer-reviewed publications, the development of an interdisciplinary “global water” course, and high-profile community outreach.

Improving Soil Classification Analogs (I-SCAN)

The LeMonte Lab is collaborating with the US Army ERDC's Environmental Laboratory to better identify and predict natural environmental constraints. This project is focused on understanding unique geochemical signatures of diverse soil samples across the western U.S. at elevations greater than 8,000 ft. Traditional sampling, classification, and characterization methods are being paired with advanced characterization methods and machine learning approaches to discover geochemical patterns in these systems.

Microbial Life in Antarctic Soils

This project will involve analyzing archived soils collected from across Antarctica in recent years by a network of international collaborators, with samples selected to span broad gradients in soil and site conditions.