Professor studies carbon in rivers


“Carbon is one of the main currencies of most living things on the planet. Almost everything that is alive needs organic carbon for energy,’’ says Hilairy Hartnett, associate professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration, and in the department of chemistry and biochemistry at Arizona State University, in a story that appeared in U.S. News & World Report May 9.

Hartnett describes the importance of carbon – one of the most abundant elements in the universe, and carbon compounds form the basis for all known life – and discusses her research into what happens to carbon in the Colorado River, a large and heavily managed river that flows 1,450 miles from the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of California, and serves as the main water supply for the desert Southwest, including Arizona, Southern Utah, Nevada and Southern California. 

Her goal is to understand how organic carbon moves from the land to the ocean, and how it changes, or doesn’t change, along the way.

“I would like to know how biogeochemical processes in rivers affect the type of carbon that gets to the ocean," she says. "When you look at the ocean, you’re not looking at pieces of tree. I want to know what happens to that material before it gets to the ocean. We want to know how much carbon makes it all the way to the end of the river, and how is it different from the carbon at the beginning?”

Hartnett is studying carbon in the Colorado River under a National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award, which she received in 2009 as part of NSF’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The award supports junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organization. NSF is funding her work with about $574,000 over five years.

Article source: U.S.News & World Report

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