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Phosphorus (P) is essential for plant growth, but excessive and continuous application of P fertilizers and animal manure has led to the accumulation of legacy phosphorus (legacy-P) in soils. While legacy-P presents a potential resource to support future agricultural demands, limited understanding of its chemical forms across different soil types hinders its sustainable management. This study aimed to characterize the chemical nature and storage potential of legacy-P in three contrasting soil types: acidic, organic, and calcareous. Key soil properties—including pH, organic matter, total P, Mehlich-3 P, and concentrations of aluminum (Al), calcium (Ca), iron (Fe), and magnesium (Mg)—were evaluated alongside P fractionation using a modified Hedley method. Furthermore, the soil P saturation ratio (PSR) was calculated to evaluate the relative saturation of soil sorption sites with P. Results showed considerable variability in Mehlich-3 P across soil types, ranging from 7–62% of total P in acidic soils, 1–8% in organic soils, and 3–47% in calcareous soils. Acidic soils were dominated by humic/fulvic-bound P (> 42%), organic soils by recalcitrant residual P (> 62%), and calcareous soils by Ca/Mg-bound P (> 69%), highlighting the influence of soil chemistry on P stability. Despite considerable variation among soil types in P fractionations, PSR results suggested that Ca/Mg-associated minerals play a greater role in retaining legacy P in organic and calcareous soils than Al- and Fe-associated minerals. In acidic soils, both mineral groups contributed similarly to P retention. 

The development of alternative energy sources is crucial for reducing reliance on fossil fuels, particularly for mobile applications such as personal electronics and transportation. This necessitates the advancement of battery materials based on abundant and inexpensive constituent elements. To achieve this requires investigating materials in a broader compositional and structural design space. Early transition metal oxides, including the intercalation electrode α–V2O5, however, the performance of V2O5 is hindered by phase transformations during battery cycling that lead to capacity fade and short device lifetimes. This study investigates the modification of V2O5 through Mo substitution in a series of the form V2−xMoxO5 for x = 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, and 0.8. X-ray diffraction data reveal progressive structural changes with increasing Mo content, which in turn change the progression of phase transformations during the first discharge. The different product also results in different cycling profile shapes that indicate differences in the charge storage mechanism as a function of Mo content. As a result, samples with higher Mo-substitution, especially V1.2Mo0.8O5, have narrower hysteresis, higher capacity, and improved capacity retention. While there is a limited solubility of Mo in the V2O5structure, with secondary phases and defects at many compositions, we show that Mo substitution alters the cycling behavior of V2O5 to deep discharge, which can inform the design of intercalation materials for energy storage applications. 

Sustainable phosphorus fertilization is a growing challenge in agriculture. Phosphorus is necessary for plant growth, but it is typically only bioavailable in its orthophosphate form. Phosphate fertilizers contribute to environmental damage as they leach into aquatic ecosystems. Therefore, it is imperative to develop new fertilization techniques such as controlled-release small-scale phosphate fertilizers. However, iteratively optimizing various new fertilizers using a comparable method is difficult. Here, we use three-dimensional bioprinting as a high-throughput screening platform to evaluate cellular phosphate uptake of various phosphate sources, including triple super phosphate, diammonium phosphate and struvite, which are composed of different chemistries and scales. As a result, we identified ideal phosphate fertilizer sources for the development of controlled-release phosphate fertilizers. Then, we evaluated whether plant growth and root architecture responded differently to the ideal controlled-release fertilizers. This study demonstrates the utility of this screening platform in developing a controlled-release phosphate fertilizer that effectively provides phosphate to plants at the microparticle scale. 

ABSTRACT Feeding the growing human population sustainably amidst climate change is one of the most important challenges in the 21st century. Current practices often lead to the overuse of agronomic inputs, such as synthetic fertilizers and water, resulting in environmental contamination and diminishing returns on crop productivity. The complexity of agricultural systems, involving plant‐environment interactions and human management, presents significant scientific and technical challenges for developing sustainable practices. Addressing these challenges necessitates transdisciplinary research, involving intense collaboration among fields such as plant science, engineering, computer science, and social sciences. Five case studies are presented here demonstrating successful transdisciplinary approaches toward more sustainable water and fertilizer use. These case studies span multiple scales. By leveraging whole‐plant signaling, reporter plants can transform our understanding of plant communication and enable efficient application of water and fertilizers. The use of new fertilizer technologies could increase the availability of phosphorus in the soil. To accelerate advancements in breeding new cultivars, robotic technologies for high‐throughput plant screening in different environments at a population scale are discussed. At the ecosystem scale, phosphorus recovery from aquatic systems and methods to minimize phosphorus leaching are described. Finally, as agricultural outputs affect all people, integration of stakeholder perspectives and needs into research is outlined. These case studies highlight how transdisciplinary research and cross‐training among biologists, engineers, and social scientists bring diverse expertise to tackling grand challenges in sustainable agriculture, driving discovery and innovation.