Collaborative research: RUI: evaluating the impacts of toxic dust from the great salt lake on agriculture and ecosystems

Colby College received a $480,175 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Geosciences program (CFDA 47.050) effective September 1, 2026, through August 31, 2029, to conduct collaborative research evaluating the impacts of toxic dust emissions from the Great Salt Lake on agricultural systems and ecosystems. The primary research deliverables include field-based and greenhouse sampling studies documenting heavy metal contamination (arsenic and lead) in agricultural crops such as corn and alfalfa, atmospheric modeling to characterize dust deposition patterns, and datasets quantifying bioaccumulation pathways through food chains. The research outputs will directly inform public health and environmental protection strategies for communities in the Great Basin and beyond.

In addition to core research activities, the grant funds significant educational and outreach components designed to translate research findings into actionable community resources. Deliverables include soil testing kits distributed to K-12 students for local community use, teacher internship programs providing hands-on research training, and communication materials (fact sheets, newsletters, and community presentations) disseminated through partnerships with local and state agencies and non-profit organizations. These integrated education and outreach activities address workforce development priorities while ensuring that research results on dust-borne metal contamination reach stakeholders directly impacted by Great Salt Lake environmental changes.

Abstract

The great salt lake (GSL) is vital to utah?s economy, contributing over $1 billion annually through mineral extraction, brine shrimp harvesting, and recreation. However, the lake has reached historically low water levels due to upstream water diversions for agriculture, industry, and municipalities. As the lake shrinks, the newly exposed lakebed is emitting wind-blown dust containing harmful heavy metals like arsenic and lead?byproducts of past industrial activity. This toxic dust threatens public health, agriculture, and ecosystems, with risks that extend far beyond the lake itself. This project will shed light on the role that dust plays in depositing heavy metals into ecosystems and onto important crops including corn and alfalfa. As metals accumulate in plants, they may ascend the food chain into livestock, predators, and ultimately humans, with a variety of negative health outcomes. Therefore, the results of this study will have direct implications for the health of ecosystems and communities both within the great basin and around the world. The results of this research be shared with communities that may be directly impacted by increased dust emission, by leveraging partnerships with local and state agencies and non-profit organizations in outreach through their regular programming such as fact sheets, newsletters, and community presentations. The research will be integrated with education activities by building and distributing soil test kits for students to use within their local communities, and by engaging local k-12 teachers in hands-on research through teacher internships. As the great salt lake continues to shrink and emit more dust, native and agricultural plants may act as vectors of metal contamination, locally and regionally. As such, this study will utilize a combination of greenhouse and field-based sampling and atmospheric modeling to evaluate the risk to humans and ecosystems posed by GSL dust deposited on key native plants and agricultural crops through: 1) assessing the extent to which plants take up these heavy metals through root and foliar (leaf) uptake, 2)evaluating differing plant bioaccumulation among taxa key to the utah economy, 3) determining the impact of GSL-sourced dust on plants in the great basin region, and 4) identifying potential source regions of dust that are impacting plants. The project will also analyze strontium, neodymium, and lead isotope ratios in plant tissues to determine the ability of these isotopic signals to determine soil and/or foliar dust compositions or ?fingerprints?. Through geochemistry and atmospheric modeling, the research will assess the sources and transport pathways of dust from the GSL lakebed and other regional dust emissions areas and quantify the dust contribution to regional soils. The data generated by this project will contribute to environmental and health-related planning and serve as a new tool for understanding heavy metal (RE)distribution during natural processes expedited by environmental change and human activity. These insights are essential for addressing the immediate consequences of the lake?s decline and for predicting more severe impacts in the future, as continued drought and future water management practices could expose more lakebed and increase the risk of toxic dust emissions. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.- subawards are not planned for this award.