The Hettiarachchi Soil and Environmental Chemistry Lab

10/12/2026

Can long-term agricultural practices, such as fertilization and manure or compost application, contribute to PFAS (“forever chemicals”) accumulation in soil? 🌱

To explore this question, we collected soil samples from a field experiment maintained for more than 30 years by our Soil Microbial Agroecology Lab. The study includes different tillage practices and inorganic and organic fertilizer treatments, offering a valuable opportunity to investigate how long-term soil management influences PFAS accumulation.
K-State Department of Agronomy
-State Soil Microbial Agroecology Lab

10/09/2026

“Lead in the Environment” 3 day workshop before the GSA Annual Meeting held in Golden, Colorado Oct. 7-9.

09/30/2026

We are excited to announce that Nishadi Dodampe Mudiyanselage recently received a Love of Learning Award from The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation's oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines. Congratulations!!! We are so very proud of you, Nishadi!!

https://phikappaphi.meritpages.com/stories/Nishadi-Dodampe-Mudiyanselage-Receives-2026-Phi-Kappa-Phi-Love-of-Learning-Award/200728499?

Nishadi Dodampe Mudiyanselage of Manhattan, Kansas, was recently awarded a Love of Learning Award worth $1,000 from The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation's oldest and most selective colleg...

09/23/2026

We have started a new experiment at Sector 9 of the Advanced Photon Source (APS), Argonne National Laboratory, collecting P K-edge XANES data to understand phosphorus speciation in soils following the application of different liquid phosphorus fertilizer formulations.

09/20/2026

Day 3 at GSE-CARS, Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, collecting data on 18 months-field aged biochar particle extracted from a P and biochar treated Pb-contaminated soil.
remediation

09/19/2026

Day 2 at GSE-CARS, Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory!

09/19/2026

We are currently at GeoSoilEnviro (GSE) CARS (Sector 13) at Argonne National Laboratory's Advanced Photon Source, collecting data for our research, which provides molecular insights into field applications of soil amendments to stabilize lead in vacant lots in residential neighborhoods. Microscale elemental mapping guides spatially resolved lead speciation using micro-XAS and micro-XRD to mechanistically understand the chemical processes occurring in soils 18 months after amendment. Argonne National Laboratory The Hettiarachchi Soil and Environmental Chemistry Lab K-State Department of Agronomy

09/16/2026

Exciting day and a proud moment! 🎉🌱

Lakma Hewafonsekage presented her research at the 2026 Urban Food Systems Symposium in Kansas City, MO! 👏

Congratulations, Lakma, on this wonderful achievement and for sharing your research with the scientific community! 🎓✨

08/26/2026

Exciting day for our team! 🎉🧪

One of our team members just completed her presentation at the American Chemical Society Fall 2026 National Meeting (ACS Fall 2026) in Chicago!

👏 Congratulations to Nishadi Dodampe Mudiyanselage for successfully presenting findings from our HUD Household Dust Project to the ACS scientific community!

🎤 Oral Presentation: Speciation Controls Pb Bioaccessibility in Household Dust: Implications for Exposure Risk
🧪 Division: Environmental Chemistry
🌎 Session: Environmental Contaminants

Grateful for the opportunity to present our research on Pb speciation and bioaccessibility in household dust and its implications for exposure risk to the ACS scientific community.