Our laboratory works on a variety of soil and biogeochemical issues in managed and unmanaged ecosystems. Our primary focus is the cycling of nutrients, primarily carbon and nitrogen, in all three phases (solids, liquids, and gases) to better understand the processes that drive ecosystems and how humanity can alter system function. We are currently engaged in projects focused on water quality in the San Joaquin Delta and various agricultural systems around the state of California (dissolved organic carbon and sediment transport), fertility and development of wetland soils (rice systems and estuaries), nutrient management associated with dairies and feed lots, trace gas capture and analysis (C and N species), the storage and cycling of C in forest soils and the use of isotopic tracers within all these systems. These projects cross the spectrum from the analysis of available nutrients to assess soil fertility through isotopic analysis of biomarkers and specific biomolecular compounds that form soil organic matter.