BIOGEOCHEMICAL MODELING

Characterizing the net environmental benefit of...

...nitrogen management has proven to be a difficult task. Gains made on reducing reactive nitrogen in regional waterbodies may transfer the problem from water quality to global greenhouse gas emissions (see work by Burgin et al., 2013). Establishing equivalences between air and water pollution is an ongoing challenge. Earth system models are one tool to assess the tradeoffs and consequences of different management practices at the global scale. To do such, these models need to include realistic representations of the biogeochemical mechanisms and hydrologic controls in nitrogen cycling.

My research aims to improve the nitrogen cycling modules of the land surface model in the National Center for Atmospheric Research's global climate model. I pay particular attention to the denitrification model and test the sensitivity of the model to different environmental conditions.