The soil in the Upper Peninsula has been heavily contaminated with heavy metals due to mining. Our researchers aim to remediate the impacted soil in a two-step process; their project is titled “Multitasking Grasses: Improving Soil and Producing Biofuel”.

First, they will remove contaminants from the soil using plant matter such as grasses, and then, to avoid further pollution, they will turn the plant matter into ethanol.