Ryan Tappero

Brookhaven National Laboratory

National Synchrotron Light Source II
Bldg. 743, Room 104
P.O. Box 5000
Upton, NY 11973-5000

(631) 344-5245
rtappero@bnl.gov

Expertise | Research | Education | Appointments | Publications

Expertise

Ryan is a Research Soil Scientist/Chemist at the Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island in New York.  He is responsible for the X-ray Fluorescence Microprobe (XFM) Beamline at the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II) and leads a research program in rhizosphere biogeochemistry and plant-microbe-soil interactions. Ryan also leads the Science Focus Group called MESSI or the Molecular Environmental Synchrotron Science Initiative at NSLS-II.

Ryan conducts applied and fundamental research in Soil Science and Plant Nutrition. His research focuses on the chemistry of nutrients in soil and the rhizosphere (plant-soil interface) and the interactions between soil (micro)organisms and higher plants that are relevant to climate (i.e., carbon sequestration) and energy (i.e., biofuels). Ryan is a Research Associate Professor in the Department of Geosciences at the Stony Brook University. He also holds an adjunct faculty appointment in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences at the University of Delaware and serves on the external advisory committee for the Delaware Environmental Institute (DENIN).

Research Activities

The Rice of the Future: How growing practices can decrease human exposure to toxins (A. Seyfferth and R. Tappero, Co-Principle Investigators); Brookhaven National Laboratory- University of Delaware Seed Grant.

Molecular Mechanisms of Plant-Mycorrhizal-Decomposer Interactions and Impacts on Terrestrial Biogeochemistry (J. Bhatnagar, Principle Investigator); Department of Energy – Biological and Environmental Research (Systems Biology Enabled Research on the Roles of Microbiomes in Nutrient Cycling Processes).

Development of a Full-Field X-ray Fluorescence Imaging System for Near Real-Time Trace Element Microanalysis in Complex Biological Systems (R. Tappero, Principle Investigator); Department of Energy – Biological and Environmental Research (Bioimaging Research and Approaches for Bioenergy and the Environment).

Education

Ph.D., Environmental Soil Chemistry.  2008.  University of Delaware, Newark, DE.  Donald L. Sparks, advisor.

M.Sc., Soil Chemistry (Summa cum laude).  2003.  California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. CA.  Thomas A. Ruehr (deceased), advisor.

B.Sc., Soil Science (Summa cum laude).  2001.  California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA.  Thomas A. Ruehr (deceased), advisor.

Professional Appointments

Assistant Adjunct Professor, University of Delaware, Plant and Soil Sciences Dept., Newark, DE.

External Advisory Board for the Delaware Environmental Institute (DENIN), Newark, DE.

Research Associate Professor, Stony Brook University, Department of Geosciences, Stony Brook, NY.

Selected Publications

• Szerlag KD, Siebecker MG, Izaditame F, et al (2024) Multimodal, microspectroscopic speciation of legacy phosphorus in two US mid-Atlantic agricultural soils. Soil Science Society of America Journal 88:1992–2012. https://doi.org/10.1002/saj2.20765
• Sricharoenvech P, Siebecker MG, Tappero R, et al (2024) Chromium speciation and mobility in contaminated coastal urban soils affected by water salinity and redox conditions. Journal of Hazardous Materials 462:132661. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.132661
• Zhang K, Wang H, Tappero R, et al (2023) Ectomycorrhizal fungi enhance pine growth by stimulating iron-dependent mechanisms with trade-offs in symbiotic performance. New Phytologist 242:1645–1660. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.19449
• Chia J-C, Yan J, Rahmati Ishka M, et al (2023) Loss of OPT3 function decreases phloem copper levels and impairs crosstalk between copper and iron homeostasis and shoot-to-root signaling in Arabidopsis thaliana. The Plant Cell. https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koad053
• Mathew IE, Rhein HS, Yang J, et al (2023) Sequential removal of cation/H+ exchangers reveals their additive role in elemental distribution, calcium depletion and anoxia tolerance. Plant, Cell & Environment 47:557–573. https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.14756
• Linam F, Limmer MA, Tappero R, Seyfferth AL (2022) Rice husk and charred husk amendments increase porewater and plant Si but water management determines grain As and Cd concentration. Plant and Soil. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-022-05350-3
• Tappero R, Liao H-L (Sunny), Bhatnagar J, et al (2021) Non-reductive, ligand-promoted dissolution is responsible for enhanced weathering of ferric (oxy)hydroxides in the Pine (mycor)rhizosphere. Goldschmidt2021 abstracts. https://doi.org/10.7185/gold2021.8246
• Lee S, Lee J, Ricachenevsky FK, et al (2021) Redundant roles of four ZIP family members in zinc homeostasis and seed development in Arabidopsis thaliana. The Plant Journal 108:1162–1173. https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.15506
• Kopittke PM, Punshon T, Paterson DJ, et al (2018) Synchrotron-Based X-Ray Fluorescence Microscopy as a Technique for Imaging of Elements in Plants. Plant Physiology 178:507–523. https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.18.00759