The Freshman Research Initiative (FRI) is a program in the College of Natural Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin dedicated to teaching through research that introduces first-year science majors to authentic research over multiple semesters as part of their degree program. The Urban Ecosystems FRI research lab engages 80 first-year students each year in multidisciplinary research to address basic and applied problems in urban ecosystems. As one of three faculty in this research lab, my students use analytical chemistry to identify and quantify anthropogenic pollutants in local waterways.
Our extraction techniques include liquid/liquid, solid phase, cloud-point, and dispersive liquid/liquid microextraction. Pollutants we have detected and quantified include heavy metals using ICPMS, PAHs, caffeine, and galixolide using GCMS, and antibiotics, pesticides, BPA, perfluorinated compounds, and artificial sweeteners using LCMS. While some students work on established projects, others develop protocols to add new analytes to our collection. One promising project is looking for correlations between FIB levels and detected levels of a suite of artificial sweeteners and galixolide, a polycyclic musk used frequently in fragranced household cleaning products. We hope these results will allow us to identify domestic wastewater infrastructure leaks. Another project is working to locate the source of elevated PAH levels in an urban creek flagged by the City of Austin as persisting despite the citywide ban of coal-tar sealant, the main source of PAH pollution in our waterways. Undergraduates in our lab perform advanced research on pressing problems facing the city’s ecosystem while learning valuable skills useful for future careers and life.