Image from the journal Nature (doi: 10.1038/d41586-018-03925-8)

 I am looking for motivated graduate students to join me at Rutgers University in Fall 2020.

The DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS is January 15.
Program Requirements to Apply
https://grad.admissions.rutgers.edu/GraduateProgram/Detail.aspx?code=16375&degree=PHD

Application Guidelines
http://gradstudy.rutgers.edu/apply/application-guidelines

​Please contact me if you are interested, and mention that you'd like to work with me in your Personal Statement.

Generally speaking, I measure low-concentration gases in the environment that give us information about plants, soils, and/or human interactions with the atmosphere.  The gas du jour is carbonyl sulfide (O-C-S) which is destroyed in plant leaves in proportion to uptake of CO2 during photosynthesis.  If we just measured CO2 over an ecosystem, we would only be able to see the balance of photosynthesis and respiration.  OCS allows us to separate out photosynthesis, the largest flux in the entire carbon cycle, at regional and global scales.

Sometimes we have to travel to exotic locations (Costa Rica! The stratosphere! North Jersey!) and either collect gases in special containers, or install a laser-based device in the field.

There are also many questions that should be answered in the laboratory: what governs trace gas exchange from differently structure plants? What is happening with the huge efflux of gases released after wetting a dry soil?

I am happy to work with students from different backgrounds, e.g. students transitioning from chemistry/physics/computer science to environmental science.