UNM project brings together diverse team to develop solutions to uranium waste in Native communities
August 25, 2023 - Kim Delker
A new National Science Foundation-funded project is tackling a perplexing problem — that of the toxic heavy metals left behind after uranium mining in Native American communities in New Mexico — from a multifaced angle.
Instead of offering a top-down, one-size-fits-all approach to this problem that is contaminating water supplies — disproportionally impacting socioeconomically-challenged communities — this project is seeking solutions from a cross-disciplinary team, which includes Native Americans themselves (including several research team members) and their cultural knowledge.
“Biosensors for Field Detection of Aqueous Heavy Metals: A Collaboration with Native American Communities” starts this month and ends July 31, 2028. Part of the NSF Using the Rules of Life to Address Societal Challenges program, the $3 million project is being led by several researchers in the School of Engineering: Gabriel López, a professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering; José Cerrato, a professor in the Gerald May Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering; Matthew Lakin, an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science; Nick Carroll, an associate professor of chemical and biological engineering; as well as Abraham Meles, an associate professor of physics at Navajo Technical University.
Some of the work will take place at UNM’s Center for Micro-Engineered Materials, which is a UNM-wide research center, as well as the METALS Superfund Research Program, based in the College of Pharmacy in collaboration with the UNM main campus. The community engagement work in this project will be conducted in collaboration with the Southwest Research and Information Center (SRIC).
Additional researchers from UNM who are part of the project are Jami Nelson-Nuñez, associate professor and department chair of political science, as well as Bill Gannon, a research professor in biology, and David Peabody, a professor in molecular genetics and microbiology. The team also includes Irene Anyangwe, an associate professor of biology and chair of the School of Science at Navajo Tech; Perry James, a Navajo culture and education expert and assistant professor of bilingual education at Western New Mexico University; Christopher Shuey, director of the Uranium Impact Assessment Program for SRIC and the community engagement core lead for the UNM METALS program; and Kirena Tsosie, a community water specialist at SRIC and a member of the UNM METALS program.
Read more in the UNM Newsroom
