Phytoremediation - A Nature-based Solution (NbS) for Soil Heavy Metals Pollution
Institutions:
1. Kansas State University, Manhattan, USA
2. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Illinois, USA
3. Michigan Technological University, Houghton, USA
Ng Chuck Chuan is an Assistant Professor at the China-ASEAN College of Marine Sciences (CAMS), Xiamen University Malaysia (XMUM), Selangor studying environmental technology. Chuck Chuan’s attachment will be to three institutions in the United States of America, namely Kansas State University in Manhattan, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in Illinois, and Michigan Technological University in Houghton, USA.
Chuck Chuan’s area of study on phytoremediation, a term from the words ‘phyto’, meaning soil and ‘remediation’ meaning cleaning, focuses on the cleaning of soil utilising living plants to tackle soil heavy metal pollution.
As part of a nature-based solution (NbS) approach, phytoremediation is an environmentally friendly method that uses suitable types of plants to revegetate heavy metal polluted soil in a cost-effective way.
Through this attachment, Chuck Chuan aims to improvise the efficiency capacity and limitations of phytoremediation for on-site and off-site remediation in the USA and Malaysia through various qualitative and quantitative approaches.
With his attachment, he hopes to find possible outcomes for his research to contribute to the development of specific baseline data, policy briefs and guideline recommendations for phytoremediation of heavy metal contaminated soil in to be implemented in Malaysia.
Chuck Chuan aims to organize relevant environmental based community development activities, such as interactive outdoor learning opportunities to train young Malaysian youths on the fundamentals of soil assessment as well as the significance of land rehabilitation and soil restoration in Malaysia.