Down the ditch, nitrogen and phosphorus part ways
Sampling four farm drainage ditches from the field edge to the outlet, our group found that organic nitrogen, phosphate, and nitrate each followed their own path. Science of the Total Environment.
News & field notes
New papers, field days, and video from the catchments
Each new paper gets a short story here, with photos or a short video from the field and a link to the paper itself.
Urban nitrogen policy should follow pathways, not the calendar
Seasonal fertilizer blackouts are an imperfect proxy for nitrogen export. This ES&T Viewpoint argues that policy should target sources, forms, storage pools, and hydrologic pathways.
A storm reaches the flume
A trail camera at the outlet of one of our small agricultural catchments catches runoff starting to pour through the flume as a storm arrives.
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8-second clip
Nitrogen loss from agricultural land to water
Our new comprehensive review of how nitrogen moves from farmland to water: the pathways, the drivers, and what they mean for management. Advances in Agronomy 198.
Climate-smart kiwifruit: cutting nitrate by using water and nitrogen better
With colleagues in China, a study of how nitrogen and water use efficiency can reduce nitrate across climate scenarios. Water Research 290.
Extreme rainfall pushes stored nitrate deeper into the soil
Extreme rainfall redistributes and leaches nitrate accumulated in soil profiles of an intensive agricultural region. Soil & Tillage Research 259.
Day and night at a drainage ditch
A trail camera's view of a farm drainage ditch on the Eastern Shore, through day and night.
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17-second clipIrrigation over soybeans
A center pivot waters a soybean field in midsummer. Irrigation adds water that can carry nitrate below the root zone, one reason we track water as closely as nutrients.
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20-second clip
Biosolids to curb soluble phosphorus loss from legacy-P soils
Characterizing biosolids and how their phosphorus transforms in soils already saturated with legacy phosphorus. Environmental Technology & Innovation 41.
Talk at STING 2026 in Bern
Mechanistic insights into nitrate dynamics in agricultural catchments using stable isotope analyses, with Fajun Sun and Shuiwang Duan.
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Bern, Switzerland
10 years later, Maryland’s phosphorus tool offers uneven results
Bay Journal coverage of Maryland’s Phosphorus Management Tool. Bay Journal 35(9): 20.
Study aims for reality check on nutrient runoff from farms
Bay Journal story on a study of nutrient runoff from farms. Bay Journal 35(6): 14–15.
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Bay Journal, print edition
Elected Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy
Two years after election as a Fellow of the Soil Science Society of America.