Biogeochemistry is the scientific study of the processes and reactions (chemical, physical, geological, biological) which control the composition of the natural environment. It also looks at the cycles of matter and energy that transfer the Earth’s chemical components in time and space.

Aquatic biogeochemistry (carbon storage and flux; nitrogen cycling, and retention) have been studied in manipulated and control catchments, providing a greater understanding of the processes that control stream-water quality with the Air, Water and Aquatic Environments Program.

Nelson, Monique LaPerriere; Rhoades, Charles C.; Dwire, Kathleen A. 2011. Influence of bedrock geology on water chemistry of slope wetlands and headwater streams in the southern Rocky Mountains. Wetlands. 31: 251-261.

Rhoades, C.C.; Entwistle, D; Butler, D. Short-term and persistent changes in streamwater after Colorado’s Hayman Fire. International Journal of Wildfire Science. 20: 430-442.

Rhoades, C.C.; K. Elder, and E. Green. 2010. The influence of a dust event on snow chemistry in the Southern Rockies. Arctic, Alpine and Antarctic Research 42: 98-105.

Rhoades, C.C., D. Binkley, H. Oskarsson, & R. Stottlemyer 2008. Soil Nitrogen Accretion along a Floodplain Terrace Chronosequence in Northwest Alaska: Influence of the N-fixing shrub Shepherdia canadensis. Ecoscience 15(2):223-230.

Rhoades, C.C. 2007. Influence of American chestnut (Castanea dentata) on chemistry and nitrogen availability of fine and coarse-texture soils. Pedobiologia 50:553-562.