Earlier this year, the Wagner lab had two students successfully defend their research – Congratulations to Dr. Riley Barton and Dr. Alex Collins!
Riley graduated this past spring and the title of her dissertation is “Hydrologic and spatiotemporal controls on pyrogenic carbon export from fire-affected, coastal California streams”. Riley’s work has tested long-standing hypotheses that challenge and expand our understanding of the effects of wildfire on carbon cycling in local waterways, with Earth system scale implications. Riley is now a postdoc with Kevin Bladon at Oregon State University.
Riley and Sasha at a site burned during the 2020 CZU Lightning Complex Fire.
Riley and collaborator, Lauren Giggy (UC Santa Cruz), at a stream sampling site at the Blue Oak Ranch Reserve.
Alex graduated this past summer and the title of his dissertation is “Investigating the dynamics of organic matter in the Hudson River catchment across spatial, temporal, and hydrologic regimes”. Alex’s work revealed the significant effect of damming and other impoundments on the composition and fate of organic matter in the Hudson River. His research on shale-derived inputs to the Hudson River have major implications for the source and age of black carbon observed in rivers globally. Alex is now a postdoc with Jake Hosen at Purdue University.
Alex collects shale from a roadcut within the Mohawk River catchment.
Alex teaches a class about carbon cycling in the greater Hudson River watershed.
In addition to their impactful research and academic successes, both Riley and Alex are exceptional mentors to other early career researchers and undergraduate students. This is the kind of stuff that is not reflected in resumes and CVs but makes a huge difference in collaborative success, impact on others, and the science itself. I am exceptionally lucky and thankful for the opportunity to work with both Riley and Alex. I have learned so much from them and wish them nothing but the best in their future endeavors.
