GRADUATE STUDIES
EARTH SYSTEMS SCIENCE
Biogeochemical Dynamics Focus
Multidisciplinary field, laboratory, and modeling methods are directed toward identifying biochemical and geochemical factors which regulate the chemistry of the environment, and quantifying the cycling of major and trace elements. Scales of interest range from local to global, and field programs have been conducted both across New Hampshire and across the planet.
Degree programs: M.S. in Earth Science (oceanography option or geochemical systems specialization) or Ph.D. in Natural Resources
RESEARCH FOCI
New England climate variability;
Sources of persistent air pollutants in New England;
Carbon and nitrogen biogeochemical cycling in terrestrial ecosystems;
Carbon, nitrogen, and methyl halide trace gas fluxes from terrestrial, wetland, and estuarine systems;
Nitrogen chemistry of the remote troposphere;
Global freshwater resources;
Coastal and open ocean geochemistry;
Remote sensing of land cover/land use and of terrestrial ecosystem and coastal ocean chemistry.
PAST STUDENT RESEARCH
• "Interannual, seasonal, and diel variation in soil respiration measured by autochambers along a wetland to upland slope at Harvard Forest"
• "Statistical uncertainty of eddy-flux based estimates of gross ecosystem carbon exchange at Howland Forest, Maine"
• "Global irrigation water demand: variability and uncertainties arising from agricultural and climate data sets"
• "Blue and green water: The significance of local water resources captured in small reservoirs for crop production"
• "On the evaluation of snow water equivalent estimates over the terrestrial Arctic drainage basin"
• "Simulated runoff and evapotranspiration across Alaska: model sensitivity to climate and land cover drivers"
• "Changes in Eurasian precipitation seasonality and linkages with discharge to the Arctic Ocean"
• "The tension between fire risk and carbon storage: evaluating U.S. carbon and fire management strategies through ecosystem models"
• "An Investigation of the Nutrient Dynamics of Jeffreys Basin: A Seasonal Nutrient Trap"
• "Controls on Alkali Metal Chemistry in Hydrothermal Vent Fluids from 9-10 degrees North Latitude, East Pacific Rise"
• "The Annual and Seasonal Variations of Nitrogen in Massachusetts Bay"
• "Source Apportionment of Chemical Species in Greenland Snow and Firn"
• "Controls on Methane Flux from an Alaskan Boreal Wetland"
• "The Iron and Sulfur Geochemistry of a New Hampshire Saltmarsh"
• "Factors controlling fluxes of volatile sulfer compounds in sphagnum peatlands"
• "Radioactively-active trace gas emissions from waste management systems"
• "Global terrestrial biogeochemistry: Perturbations, interactions, and time scales"
• " Modeling soil climate controls on the exchange of trace gases between the terrestrial biosphere and the atmosphere"
• "Global terrestrial biogeochemistry: perturbations, interactions, and time scales"
• "Soil hydraulic controls over nitrogen oxide emissions and nitrogen cycling in tropical agriculture"
• "Seasonal hydrology and winter methane dynamics in a temperate poor fen"
• "Carbon cycling in a New Hampshire Fen"
MORE INFORMATION . . .
Atmospheric Chemistry Focus . . .
Climate Change Focus . . .
Global Ecosystem Focus . . .
Oceanography Focus . . .
EOS Course Offerings . . .
