Soil Pollution and Protection

Assignment

Instructions

Here is a list of some of the hot topics in Soil Pollution today - a number of which HDR students at UNE pollution science are working on now!:

- PFAS compounds, soil contamination and current concerns in Australia
- Remediation of recalcitrant organic contaminants in soil (e.g. Barangaroo, Sydney)
- Nanoparticles and soils - the good and the bad!
- Remediating lead contaminated soils
- Endocrine disrupting pollutants: risks in soil
- Arsenic and cadmium in soil: Risk, research and remediation/managment strategies
- Microplastics and soils
- Using composted municipal waste in soils: Options and contamination issues.
- Phytoremediation of metal contamination for mine rehabilitation.
- Bioavailability and its assessment for soils
- Biochar - benefits and disbenefits for soil contamination

You will be allocated one of these topics to research on day 1 of teaching. Let me know asap if you have a burning desire to learn about any one specific topic and I will try to accommodate.

Use the internet and source at least 10 applicable and informative references most of which have been published within the last 5 years (DO NOT use Wikipedia). 5 of these must be articles from peer reviewed journals. Use the library databases through the UNE homepage - try Web of Science as a start - and don't just rely on Google Scholar. You should also source relevant case studies.

Write a no more than 1500 word (not including reference list) article on your topic using your references for information. The article must summarise and describe your topic for a wide but informed audience (e.g. like a journal commentary article - see the example uploaded to the Assignment 1 block) and use of examples is required. Make sure you think about the structure and flow (I will mark this as well as scientific content) and support statements and the examples with references. The article will need:

- an engaging title,
- a good introduction with a succinct description of the background to the topic (e.g. pollutants, hazards, problems etc),
- informative body of text to discuss the issue with good illustration using relevant case studies,
- and a where to from here conclusion.

Read your article hard copy before submission - if it reads easily and clearly then you are there!