Urban Agriculture, Food Contamination, and Food Insecurity

Join Master of Public Health students, Sarah Robinson and Leah Bargnesi, as they interview Dr. Prathima Nalam, Dr. Anna Paltseva, and Jeanette Koncikowski on their joint project tackling lead contamination in urban soil.  These three experts are working together to use natural resources like mycelium, the root-like structure of a fungus, to absorb lead contamination and make urban gardening and farming safe in the Buffalo community.
 
Dr. Prathima Nalam, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Materials Design and Innovation in University at Buffalo's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.  Her research focuses on tribology, soft mechanics, surface and interfacial forces, and atomic force microscopy.
Dr. Anna Paltseva, PhD, is an urban soil scientist who has researched urban soil contamination and remediation for over 8 years.  She is currently a member of the faculty team at the School of Geosciences at the University of Lousiana at LaFayette.  Her mission is to educate communities about the critical importance of soil health for growing nutritious food and medicine, for supporting healthy ecosystems, and for helping to sequester harmful greenhouse gases. 
Jeanette Koncikowski joined Grassroots Gardens of Western New York as their Executive Director in May 2018. She is a long-time community educator and activist, bringing almost 20 years of experience with nonprofit organizations in human services.  Jeanette believes it is essential that all neighborhoods and families in Western New York benefit from our region’s revitalization and that everyone has a right to healthy, affordable and accessible food. Community gardens should be the cornerstones of such efforts as they provide nourishment for our bodies and spirits.

Resources:
Can a fungus help to clean up lead-contaminated soil: https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2022/01/019.html
Send soil samples to Dr. Paltseva's lab: https://geos.louisiana.edu/soils-lab
Grassroots Gardens of Western New York: https://www.grassrootsgardens.org/

Credits:
Host/Writers: Sibaridibo Banuna, Leah Bargnesi, Sarah Robinson
Guests: Jeanette Koncikowski, Dr. Prathima Nalam, PhD, Dr. Anna Paltseva, PhD
Production Assistant/Audio Editor: Sarah Robinson
Theme Music: Sungmin Shin, DMA

This episode was produced as a final project in Dr. Katarzyna Kordas' Global Health class, a graduate-level course offered at the University at Buffalo. 

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