{"id":95,"date":"2025-11-23T22:22:06","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T03:22:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research.ncsu.edu\/research-works\/?page_id=95"},"modified":"2026-02-18T16:19:45","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T21:19:45","slug":"for-the-earth-and-environment","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/research.ncsu.edu\/research-works\/for-the-earth-and-environment\/","title":{"rendered":"For the Earth and Environment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n
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#1 Public School<\/h2>\n

\n NC State’s College of Natural Resources is the top-ranked place in the southeast U.S. to study natural resources and conservation.\n <\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n\n

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12,331 Miles<\/h2>\n

\n North Carolina has 322 miles of ocean shoreline and the nation’s second-largest system of estuaries \u2014 which collectively have 12,009 miles of coastline.\n <\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n\n

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18.7M+ Acres <\/h2>\n

\n Among our state’s most important natural resources, North Carolina’s forests cover approximately 61% of our total land area. \n <\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Building a Better Forest Tree With CRISPR Gene Editing<\/h3>\n \n\n \n\t \t

NC State startup company TreeCo is working to make forestry, fiber production \u2014 from paper to diapers \u2014 and other industries more sustainable. <\/p>\n\t \t \n

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Microcleaners for Microplastics<\/h3>\n \n\n \n\t \t

Researchers have shown that an integrated system leveraging unique materials could be used to capture and remove microplastics from bodies of water.<\/p>\n\t \t \n

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Assessing Wildfire Risks After Helene<\/h3>\n \n\n \n\t \t

A year after Hurricane Helene\u2019s destructive flooding, communities in Western North Carolina prepared for wildfire season in the fall, when risks increased as trees shed their foliage.<\/p>\n\t \t \n

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Replacing Toxic Lubricants<\/h2>\n

To keep seed spreaders from jamming, farmers need to use solid lubricants \u2014 typically either talc or microplastics \u2014 that pose risks to human health and the environment. NC State engineers have helped develop a nontoxic alternative that, in field tests, outperformed both talc- and microplastic-based lubricants.<\/p>\n \n

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Reviving a Southern Icon: How Science Is Securing the Future of Longleaf Pine<\/h3>\n \n\n \n\t \t

A collaborative research effort is underway to enhance the genetic diversity and adaptability of longleaf pine for future forests.<\/p>\n\t \t \n

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Cottonseed Oil Could Take the Place of Toxic Chemicals in Textiles and Paper Production<\/h3>\n \n\n \n\t \t

Cotton seeds\u00a0could be key to replacing the toxic chemicals used to produce wrinkle-free fabrics and water-resistant paper products.\u00a0<\/p>\n\t \t \n

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Keeping North Carolina’s Coastal Communities Healthy<\/h3>\n \n\n \n\t \t

Researchers with the North Carolina Center for Coastal Algae, People and Environment (NC C-CAPE) are collecting water, oyster and blue crab samples\u00a0to address the growing concern of harmful algal blooms on our coast.<\/p>\n\t \t \n

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STEPS Center: Reducing Society’s Reliance on Phosphorus<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Bringing together a community of our country’s leading researchers across the physical, life, social and economic sciences, the Science and Technologies for Phosphorus Sustainability (STEPS) Center<\/a> integrates disciplinary contributions to address complex challenges in phosphorus sustainability. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Used globally to fertilize plant crops, the element phosphorus underpins many critical biological processes. Most of that fertilizer comes from non-renewable phosphate deposits \u2014 mined outside the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once farms use this phosphorus, only 20% makes it into the human diet due to system losses and inefficiencies. The remainder often accumulates in soil and water sources, where it causes negative environmental impacts \u2014 such as algal blooms, which can contaminate safe drinking water and harm marine life. STEPS is working to find solutions for phosphorus that rely on new materials, technologies and strategies to control, recover, reuse and manage phosphorus in novel, sustainable ways.<\/p>\n\n\n

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More research from STEPS:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n