Veronica Morales
University of California-Davis, CA·Earth & Environmental Science
Riverbeds release nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas that warms the climate. Yet how much they release is hard to estimate.
- Fields
Earth & Environmental Science
Engineering
Microbiology & Immunology
- Topics
nitrous oxide
greenhouse gas emissions
hyporheic zone
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jul 2027
What they work on
- Test whether coupling between water flow and bacterial biofilm growth in sediment pores controls where and when oxygen-free microzones form and how reactants reach them.
- Quantify nitrous oxide production at the macroscale using sediment column experiments that mimic riverbed (hyporheic zone) conditions.
- Characterize the timing and location of anoxic microzones at the pore scale with microfluidic experiments, and link scales using process-based numerical simulations.
More about the research
The gas forms in tiny pockets within the sediment where oxygen runs out. These pockets are so small that they are extremely difficult to find and measure. This collaborative project asks how bacteria living in sediments control where these low-oxygen pockets form, how large they get, and how long they last.
Why it matters
Uncertain estimates of nitrous oxide from rivers hamper climate accounting. Knowing how bacteria control oxygen-free pockets in riverbeds could improve these estimates and inform strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It could also help water managers understand how contaminants and nutrients are transformed in shallow groundwater that feeds rivers.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Olivia Mason
Florida State University, FL·Earth & Environmental Science
Test whether SUP05 sulfur-oxidizing bacteria include distinct cell types that perform different nitrogen-respiring steps in oxygen minimum zone fjords, using DNA and RNA sequencing, cultivation and isotope rate measurements.
Donatella Zona
San Diego State University, CA·Earth & Environmental Science
Extend year-round CO2 and CH4 flux records from five Arctic eddy covariance towers in Alaska to a 20+ year CO2 and 11-year CH4 dataset across moisture and latitude gradients.
Mark Warner
University of Washington, WA·Earth & Environmental Science
Place nitrous oxide (N2O) measurements from several GO-SHIP ocean sections on a common calibration scale, merge them with hydrographic data, and release them publicly.
The school
University of California-Davis: 49 labs on PI Pages, $1.0B a year on research, 647 research doctorates a year.
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