DEPARTMENT OF EARTH, ENVIRONMENTAL, 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

• Biomarker heatmaps: visualization of complex biomarker data to detect storm-induced source changes in fluvial particulate organic carbon. Earth Science Informatics (2023) doi.org/10.1007/s12145-023-01039-y (Kim, J., Blair, N.E.).
• Storm pulse responses of fluvial organic carbon to seasonal source supply and transport controls in a midwestern agricultural watershed. Science of the Total Environment (2023) 869: 161647. dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.161647 (Hou, T., Blair, N.E., Papanicolaou, A.N.T., Filley, T.R.).
• Metabolomics analysis of unresolved molecular variability in stoichiometry dynamics of a stream dissolved organic matter. Water Research (2022) 223: 118923. doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2022.118923 (Hassanpour, B., Blair, N.E., Aristilde, L.).
• 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.).