Objectives

In partnership with the Town of Dewey-Humboldt, Arizona, Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the UA Yavapai Cooperative Extension Office, Gardenroots will accomplish the following objectives:

Objective 1: Determine the uptake of arsenic and lead in popularly grown vegetables in Arizona in a greenhouse with soil mixtures that have varying arsenic (As) and lead (Pb) concentrations. The soil mixtures to be tested are from the Iron King Mine Humboldt Smelter Superfund (IKMHSS) site and from Dewey-Humboldt homes immediately adjacent to the IKMHSS.

Objective 2: Build a Citizen Science (CS) program that will successfully incorporate and empower a cadre of community gardeners in the scientific process to determine the levels of metals in the vegetables grown in Dewey-Humboldt, Arizona home gardens.

Objective 3: Work with the Citizen Science gardeners to co-design the educational materials necessary to explain and illustrate the methodology and results of the project.