A Student’s Startup Aims to Move Phosphorus From Water to Farms
Matt Oriente sits among the crops he grew at Eden Hall Campus. (Courtesy of Matthew Oriente)
For Matt Oriente, MSUS ’25, getting hands-on experience in agriculture has been one of the most unique parts of his time at Chatham University.
“I don’t think many universities can offer something like an Eden Hall Campus,” he said. “Having the chance to learn, conduct my thesis, [and] actually apply what is in the classroom to real life, or my job working on the farm, is really special and gives you insights like no other.”
Oriente, who started his degree two years ago, is getting ready now to finish his thesis. He hopes to address two problems—an excess of phosphorus in some waterways and the need for phosphorus in agricultural fertilizer—with one solution: biochar that can remove phosphorus from water and turn it into a suitable phosphorus source for farming.
It ties into the work he does with his colleagues at HydroPhos Solutions, a startup he began with his undergraduate classmates. The company aims to use filtration technology to extract phosphorus for agricultural uses.
For his thesis at Chatham, Oriente grew radishes at Eden Hall Farm and looked at the soil composition and plant nutrients. For stage one of his research, he used HydroPhos materials to soak biochar—a solid, modified form of charcoal—in a phosphorus-rich aqueous solution. Then, he applied the biochar to some of the soil at one of Eden Hall’s caterpillar tunnel.
“I grew radishes out of there, and I was seeing differences in soil composition, plant nutrient uptake, and total yield,” he said. His second stage of tests, now growing spinach, have built off of what he learned from these results.
Each of the plant beds he’s using has three sections: a control group, a group with unsoakedbiochar, and the group “enriched” by the soaked biochar.
“For research purposes, it’s not a small space,” he said. “It was cool to get this real-life demonstration going.”
In addition to using wastewater to obtain phosphorus, which Oriente has done at EHC, his colleagues have also worked with a New Hampshire municipality and a Vermont brewery to obtain sludge, a semi-solid substance also containing notable amounts of phosphorus.
And, as part of his studies at Chatham, he was recently given a stiped to attend the PASA Sustainable Agriculture conference in Lancaster, where he and some other students saw expositions and lectures on agroforestry, soil, and other topics.
“The person who checked me into the conference stated she was a Chatham alum too,” he said, “so, immediately I felt welcome and a sense of belonging.”
“It was a great experience, and I was really happy I was able to go.”
To learn more about Chatham University’s Eden Hall Campus or sustainability programs, visit chatham.edu.