Bio
Robert Brown was inspired to dive into aquatic ecology through his time in the Southern Appalachian Mountains and courses in freshwater ecology and river conservation during his final undergraduate semester. He pursued internships in community ecology and watershed conservation before venturing into the world of biogeochemistry as a graduate student. He worked as a biology laboratory instructor and environmental education coordinator while completing his master’s research on relationships between urban stream methane flux and Corbicula fluminea populations. He developed an interest in nitrogen cycling during his dissertation project focused on evaluating nutrient retention capacity of restored floodplain wetlands along Mississippi River tributaries.
Robert’s current research combines field work and analytical laboratory methods to complement existing datasets from research groups and long-term monitoring projects. He began synthesizing data from the Northwest Forest Plan’s aquatic monitoring program to assess impacts of wildfire on stream habitat as a postdoc with the US EPA and Forest Service. At ORNL, he began measuring N2:Ar and CH4:Ar saturation ratios in streams as proxies for the direction and magnitude of anaerobic metabolism among various watersheds. This research directly complements ongoing work with the Watershed Dynamics and Evolution (WaDE) Science Focus Area which addresses critical hydro-biogeochemical functions in changing landscapes. Robert is also a part of the Nitrogen-Fixation Research Coordination Network and looks forward to linking watershed features with the complexities of N-cycling dynamics.
Education
Ph.D., Environmental Science, Tennessee Tech University
M.S., Biology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
B.S., Environmental Studies and Ecology, Appalachian State University