DEPARTMENT OF EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCES

Research

My research has focused on the biogeochemical transformations of carbon with an emphasis on process-oriented studies of the fate of organic carbon in surface environments. The evolution of Critical Zone C as it moves across the surface of the Earth is a particular focus. Anthropogenic impacts on the global C-cycle via land use and hydrologic engineering are being investigated.

Teaching

EARTH 106: The Ocean, The Atmosphere and Our Climate
CIV_ENV 203: Earth in the Anthropocene
EARTH 314: Organic Geochemistry
EARTH 371: Biogeochemistry (previously EARTH 317)

Selected Publications

Eroded Critical Zone Carbon and Where to Find It: Examples from the IML-CZO. In: Wymore, A.S., Yang, W.H., Silver, W.L., McDowell, W.H., Chorover, J. (eds) Biogeochemistry of the Critical Zone. Advances in Critical Zone Science (2022). Springer, Cham. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-95921-0_5 (Blair, N.E., Hayes, J.M., Grimley, D.A., Anders, A.). Springer-Nature, N.Y.

Magnetic Fly Ash as a Chronological Marker in Post-Settlement Alluvial and Lacustrine Sediment: Examples from North Carolina and Illinois. Minerals (2021) 11: 476. doi.org/10.3390/min11050476 (Grimley, D.A., Lynn, A.S., Brown, C.W., Blair, N.E.).

The Spatiotemporal Evolution of Storm Pulse Particulate Organic Carbon in a Low Gradient, Agriculturally Dominated Watershed. Frontiers in Water (2021) 3:600649. doi.org/10.3389/frwa.2021.600649 (Blair, N.E., Bettis, E.A. III, Filley, T.R., Moravek, J.A., Papanicolaou, A.N.T., Ward, A.S., Wilson, C.G., Zhou, N., Kazmierczak, B., Kim, J.)

Storm-induced Dynamics of Particulate Organic Carbon in Clear Creek, Iowa: An Intensively Managed Landscape Critical Zone Observatory Story. Frontiers in Water (2020) 2:578261. https://doi.org/10.3389/frwa.2020.578261 (Kim, J., Blair, N.E., Ward, A.S., and Goff, K.).

Carbonate mineral identification and quantification in sediment matrices using diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy. Environmental Chemistry Letters (2020) doi.org/10.1007/s10311-020-01027-4 (So, R.T., Blair, N.E., and Masterson, A.L.).

Fate of Ayeyarwady and Thanlwin Rivers Sediments in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal. Marine Geology (2020) doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2020.106137  (Liu, J.P., Kuehl, S.A., Pierce, A.C., Williams J., Blair, N.E., Harris, C., Aung, D.W., and Aye, A.A.).

Carbon mass balance, isotopic tracers of biogenic methane, and the role of acetate in coal beds: Powder River Basin (USA). Chemical Geology (2019) doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2019.119329  (Vinson, D.S., Blair, N.E., Ritter , D.J., Martini, A.M., and McIntosh, J.C.).

The Intensively Managed Landscape Critical Zone Observatory: A Scientific Testbed for Understanding Critical Zone Processes in Agroecosystems. Vadose Zone J., (2018) doi:10.2136/vzj2018.04.0088. (Wilson, C., Abban, B., Keefer, L., Wacha, K., Dermisis, D., Giannopoulos, C., Zhou, S.,  Goodwell, A.E., Woo, D.K., Yan, Q., Ghadiri, M., Stumpf, A., Pitcel, M., Lin, Y-F., Marini, L., Storsved, B., Goff, K., Vogelgsang, J., Dere, A., Schilling, K.E., Muste, M., Blair, N.E., Rhoads, B., Bettis, A., Pai, H., Kratt, C.,  Sladek, C., Wing, M., Selker, J., Tyler, S., Lin, H., Kumar, P., and Papanicolaou, A.N.T.)

Critical Transition in Critical Zone of Intensively Managed Landscapes.  Anthropocene (2018) doi.org/10.1016/j.ancene.2018.04.002 (Kumar, P., Le, P.V.V., Papanicolaou, T., Rhoads, B.L., Anders, A.M., Stumpf, A., Wilson, C.G., Bettis, E.A. III, Blair, N., Ward, A.S., Filley, T., Lin, H., Keefer, L., Keefer, D.A., Lin, Y-F., Muste, M., Royer, T.V., Foufoula-Georgiou, E., Belmont, P.).

Centers of Organic Carbon Burial and Oxidation at the Land-Ocean Interface. Organic Geochemistry (2017) doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2017.09.008 (Bianchi, T.S., Cui, X., Blair, N.E., Burdige, D.J., Eglinton, T.I., Galy, V.).