Insights
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Conducting Greenhouse Soil Tests for Soil Remediation Recommendations 

small plants growing in plugs

There are thousands of abandoned mines in the Western United States and residual heavy metal concentrations can be high in mine spoils. These spoils can also be quite acidic. Acidic soils with high concentrations of heavy metals can significantly impact the re-establishment and growth of native plant species at these sites. Even after removal of soils with the highest heavy metal concentrations, re-establishment of native species can be difficult because of the high acidity.  

Through our contract with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), CSS employee owners are supporting studies to develop methods for remediating contaminated mine soil and re-establishing native vegetation. This effort is important to helping prevent runoff and contamination of streams draining into larger watersheds.  

As part of this work, CSS plant scientists are conducting greenhouse tests for the EPA to determine which soil amendments, such as biochar and lime, are most effective at mitigating the impacts of the metal contamination and acidity on the growth of native plants. This information will be used in recommendations for field applications of soil amendments at mine sites.

small plants growing in plugs
CSS plant scientists conduct greenhouse studies with various soil amendments added to contaminated mine soil to determine which amendments would likely be most effective at promoting native plant grown at the mine site.

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Custom Support to Space Florida

Our team recently reconfigured the office space and network for an incoming Space Life Science Lab tenant, Vaxxinity. This work included major renovations to the lab and office space, and new cable runs for their modified space. The team completed this large task within a four week period! Our Florida IT group works closely with…

White, sterile lab space

Standard Guidelines for Evaluating Construction Safety and Health 

Safety is of the utmost importance in new construction or renovations. CSS employee owners, supporting the National Institutes of Health (NIH) BaseLINE program helped develop and implement a proactive approach to evaluating safety and health conditions in newly constructed and renovated spaces before occupancy.  The NIH BaseLINE program, Building Assessment of Safety Elements (Base) Lighting, Indoor air quality, Noise, Ergonomics (LINE), is a systematic readiness and safety assessment survey used for newly…

Map with 1 meter resolution on left and 30 meter on right.

High Resolution Land Cover Maps Now Available 

NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management has released higher resolution land cover maps for Alabama, Mississippi, Northeast Ohio, Rhode Island, and the Puget Sound in Washington.   These 1 meter data—previously only available in 30 meter—provide more detail communities need to map and understand their landscapes and features, including tree canopy, wetlands, impervious surface and several other categories. This additional detail will help inform decisions regarding stormwater management, flood mitigation, wetland restoration, and more.  CSS employee owners—subcontracted through Lynker Technologies—contributed to the release of this…