Dr. Rufus L. Chaney is a Senior Research Agronomist in the Environmental Management and By-Product Utilization Laboratory of the USDA-Agricultural Research Service at Beltsville, MD, where he conducts research on the fate, food-chain transfer, and potential effects, and remediation of hazards from soil microelements. The research includes studies on 1) plant uptake of metals and translocation to edible plant tissues; considers plant-soil interactions in microelement phytoavailability; 2) speciation of metals in plants and bioavailability to animals; 3) development of hyperaccumulator crops to phytoextract and recycle metals in contaminated soils; 4) bioavailability of lead and other metals in soils, biosolids, and composts directly ingested by animals; 5) development of "Tailor-Made Composts and Biosolids" to remediate Pb, Zn, Cd, Ni and other element contaminated soils including urban gardens; and 6) potential methods to reduce food-chain transfer or toxicity of metals in organic resources and potential regulatory approaches to protect food safety and soil fertility. Since beginning his career in 1969, Dr. Chaney has 429 published papers and 267 published abstracts on these topics. He has cooperated with the US-Environmental Protection Agency, the US-Food and Drug Administration, the Office of Management and Budget, and many States in preparing advice and regulations for utilization of biosolids and remediation of metal contaminated soils.