UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — As doctoral students in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, Wei-Shu Lin and Parisa Nazemi Ashani are dedicating their academic studies and future careers to improving ecosystems, including the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the United States.
Lin and Nazemi Ashani recently were offered a chance to collaborate with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and a corporate partner, Plantra Inc., to optimize the environmental benefits of the Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership, a program designed to restore the Chesapeake Bay. Both students jumped at the opportunity.
The Chesapeake Bay is impacted by the poor health of the streams and rivers that feed into it, according to Brenda Lee Sieglitz, senior manager of Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Sediment and high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus fuel unnaturally high levels of algae growth in the water, blocking sunlight from reaching underwater grasses that serve as food and habitat for aquatic organisms.
Sieglitz said one way to mitigate the impact on the bay is by planting trees. Since 2018, the nonprofit has collaborated with national, regional, state, and local agencies, conservation organizations, outdoors enthusiasts, businesses, and citizens — each with its own purpose for getting those trees in the ground.
“Trees naturally reduce polluted runoff and stabilize streambanks, supercharging our streams’ ability to cleanse themselves of pollution,” she said. “Buffers planted along streams have been proven to increase a stream’s ability to process nutrients and organic matter.”
To enhance the survival and growth of the planted seedlings, the partnership works with Minnesota-based Plantra Inc. to supply “grow tubes” and training stakes, which provide a greenhouse environment that protects and promotes healthy growth during establishment.
However, the protective tubes and support stakes are made from nonbiodegradable materials. Interested in ensuring no waste remains in the environment long-term, Plantra and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation teamed up to develop innovative ideas to ensure easy recovery of grow tube systems for recycling and reuse.
The project was adopted by Maria Spencer, the John and Patty Warehime Entrepreneur in Residence in the College of Agricultural Sciences’ Entrepreneurship and Innovation program. Spencer teaches “Agricultural and Extension Education 597: Innovation and Critical Thinking Practicum,” a course that enables students to gain real-world innovation experience and to cultivate relationships with industry mentors. Spencer recruited budding engineers Lin and Nazemi Ashani for the opportunity because of their expertise in biomaterials and their enthusiasm for environmental sustainability.
As students in the practicum, Lin and Nazemi Ashani are working alongside professionals from Plantra and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation to ideate potential sustainability improvements for the grow tubes. The near-term innovation target is a solution to ensure that grow tube stakes can be removed easily from the ground for reuse once seedlings are established.
Spencer said excitement about the project is growing, as creativity to make stakes easier to remove from the field also may reduce the labor required for their installation. Currently, a stake must be pounded 18 inches into the ground. Because it is made of a flexible material, it wiggles and requires additional force to drive it into the soil. The students are envisioning a biodegradable base for the stakes with the idea that a base could aid in both installation and removal.
“The potential for this innovation is incredible, and I am so grateful to Plantra and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation for engaging Penn State in this project,” said Spencer. “It’s a real win-win when our students can gain experience while applying their education to real-world issues they are passionate about.”
For Nazemi Ashani, working with Plantra and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation has allowed her to get to know people in the industry with an interest in sustainability.
“This is an opportunity to apply my engineering knowledge to help make this effort sustainable,” said Nazemi Ashani, who is pursuing a doctorate in agricultural and biological engineering. “I value such experiences because they give me a real-world view of the concepts I am learning in academia. While knowing the theory behind every concept is important, learning how to put them into practice is a different skill.”
Lin, a doctoral candidate in biorenewable systems, is optimistic about their ability to contribute innovative ideas.
“As scientists in the field of sustainable materials, our social responsibility will be utilizing our expertise to mitigate climate change and protect the environment," said Lin. "We believe that technologies now are mature enough, and I would like to keep working in this field to explore more potential applications of sustainable materials.”
Joe Lais, founder of Plantra, credited Spencer for shepherding the collaboration and sees the partnership leading to additional projects with Penn State to enhance tree-establishment sustainability.
“Today, we’re focused on how the greenhouse grow tube can be supported by an improved staking concept that enables easier field recovery of the entire system and promotes higher reuse rates for the support stake,” he said. “Tomorrow’s challenge could target improving the sustainability of the grow tube itself. The opportunities to eliminate or minimize the impact of introducing plastics into the environment is our goal, and we believe Penn State can help get us there.”