BIG DATAAs a soil biogeochemist, the concept of the critical zone (CZ) provides my lab group with the essential context for understanding interactions among minerals, organic matter, roots, microbes and fluids that are the primary focus of our research program. Soil is at the heart of the CZ; it is the porous interface where rock meets life, and it is teeming with biota in direct contact with the surfaces of minerals. Yet the biogeochemistry that happens there is controlled by how water is partitioned into and out of the soil zone as a result of the partitioning of water as measured by hydrologists, and the structure of the (sub)surface landscape as measured by geomorphologists and geophysicists. Hence, understanding soil biogeochemistry requires the interdisciplinary, CZ approach. In this project, I am particularly interested in resolving how soil biogeochemical dynamics are reflected in the concentration-discharge relations of surface waters.
