April 16, 2019
Arizona State University's Sustainable Phosphorus Alliance hosted its third annual Phosphorus Forum at the ASU Barrett and O'Connor Center in Washington, D.C., on April 5. A packed room brought together 60 participants from industry, government, academia and civil society to network and share knowledge about sustainability issues spanning the entire phosphorus value chain.
Phosphorus is an essential nutrient required by global agriculture, but as a key driver of freshwater eutrophication and algal blooms and of coastal dead zones, it is also among the most damaging water pollutants. Participants shared information about policies, tools and technologies aimed at promoting more sustainable use of this finite natural resource.
The directors of ASU's two Swette Centers — Bruce Rittmann (Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology) and Kathleen Merrigan (Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems) — provided keynote addresses at the event, which was organized by Matt Scholz and emceed by Jim Elser of ASU. The event launched the Alliance's Phosphorus Sustainability Challenge and rolled out a new online nutrient management tool, GIS-P, that was developed by Matt Scholz and Rebecca Muenich of ASU.
Video footage of the event is available on the Alliance's YouTube channel.