Breadcrumb

• Biochemistry • Biosphere-atmosphere interactions
Bio
Global biogeochemical cycles of nitrogen, carbon and oxygen and their impact on atmospheric trace gases, including nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide and atmospheric potential oxygen
Education
- PhD: Stanford University, 1994
- MS: Stanford University, 1988
- BS: University of California, Berkeley, 1987
Research
North American nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions estimated based on atmospheric N2O data and the CarbonTracker-Lagrange regional inverse model. Stippling shows regions planted in corn/soybean (dots) and wheat (cross hatches), emphasizing the strong N2O source from the Midwestern corn/soybean belt.
My research interests include the global biogeochemical cycles of carbon and nitrogen and their impact on atmospheric trace gases, including atmospheric potential oxygen (APO) and the greenhouse gases nitrous oxide (N2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2). I have performed atmospheric inversions of observed N2O to infer source distributions over North America, finding that N2O emissions are concentrated in agricultural regions, particularly the Midwestern corn/soybean belt. My work shows that these emissions occur mainly in springtime coincident with the application of nitrogen fertilizers. My ongoing research seeks to elucidate the overlap of climatic variability with fertilizer and other agricultural management practices to better understand the human and climatic controls on N2O emissions.
I have also worked on broader issues of carbon-nitrogen cycling, including the control that nitrogen exerts as a limiting nutrient on terrestrial primary production. My research examines how the mineral nitrogen pool is represented in Earth System Models and how that representation affects predictions of nitrogen trace gas emissions, nitrogen leaching and subsequent eutrophication in coastal zones, and CO2 sequestration in the terrestrial biosphere.
I have longstanding interests in ocean biogeochemistry, including quantification of the oceanic N2O source and use of atmospheric trace gases like N2O and APO to quantify oceanic net community production. I have conducted inter-comparisons of the oceanic modules of Earth System Models to evaluate their performance on APO and to assess confidence in future projections of oceanic uptake of atmospheric CO2.
I am also interested in the increasing prevalence among children of inflammatory neurological and immune system disorders, most of which have a strong environmental component. My publications in this field have focused on quantifying the time trend in U.S. autism prevalence, with my most recent work showing that autism prevalence has increased dramatically from near zero in the 1930s to over 1% among children born in 2012.
Finally, I am interested in the intersection of agriculture with human and environmental health, in which the same agricultural practices that lead to greenhouse gas emissions, coastal eutrophication and other environmental damage also contribute to obesity and chronic inflammatory disease in human consumers. In the context of current agricultural priorities that contradict the advice of nutrition and health experts, I am interested in exploring the large-scale issues of climate, biogeochemistry and resource consumption involved in shifting U.S. agriculture toward a greater focus on crops that nourish and support human health.
Publications
For additional publications, see Cynthia's ResearchGate collection (unclaimed).
3-D Atmospheric Modeling of the Global Budget of N2O and Its Isotopologues for 1980-2019: The Impact of Anthropogenic Emissions
Publication Date: 2022-07-01
Type: Journal Article
Nitrification and denitrification in the Community Land Model compared with observations at Hubbard Brook Forest
Publication Date: 2022-03-25
Type: Journal Article
Nitrification, denitrification, and competition for soil N: Evaluation of two Earth System Models against observations
Publication Date: 2022-03-21
Type: Journal Article
Magnitude and Uncertainty of Nitrous Oxide Emissions From North America Based on Bottom-Up and Top-Down Approaches: Informing Future Research and National Inventories
Publication Date: 2021-12-16
Type: Journal Article
An Atmospheric Constraint on the Seasonal Air-Sea Exchange of Oxygen and Heat in the Extratropics
Morgan EJ; Manizza M; Keeling RF; Resplandy L; Mikaloff-Fletcher SE; Nevison CD; Jin Y; Bent JD; Aumont O; Doney SC...
- Morgan EJ
- Manizza M
- Keeling RF
- Resplandy L
- Mikaloff-Fletcher SE
- Nevison CD
- Jin Y
- Bent JD
- Aumont O
- Doney SC
Publication Date: 2021-08-01
Type: Journal Article
Southern Annular Mode Influence on Wintertime Ventilation of the Southern Ocean Detected in Atmospheric O-2 and CO2 Measurements
Publication Date: 2020-02-28
Type: Journal Article
Race/Ethnicity-Resolved Time Trends in United States ASD Prevalence Estimates from IDEA and ADDM
Publication Date: 2019-12-01
Type: Journal Article
Net Community Production in the Southern Ocean: Insights From Comparing Atmospheric Potential Oxygen to Satellite Ocean Color Algorithms and Ocean Models
Publication Date: 2018-10-16
Type: Journal Article
Nitrous Oxide Emissions Estimated With the CarbonTracker-Lagrange North American Regional Inversion Framework
Nevison C; Andrews A; Thoning K; Dlugokencky E; Sweeney C; Miller S; Saikawa E; Benmergui J; Fischer M; Mountain M...
- Nevison C
- Andrews A
- Thoning K
- Dlugokencky E
- Sweeney C
- Miller S
- Saikawa E
- Benmergui J
- Fischer M
- Mountain M
Publication Date: 2018-03-01
Type: Journal Article
Evaluating CMIP5 ocean biogeochemistry and Southern Ocean carbon uptake using atmospheric potential oxygen: Present-day performance and future projection
Nevison CD; Manizza M; Keeling RF; Stephens BB; Bent JD; Dunne J; Ilyina T; Long M; Resplandy L; Tjiputra J...
- Nevison CD
- Manizza M
- Keeling RF
- Stephens BB
- Bent JD
- Dunne J
- Ilyina T
- Long M
- Resplandy L
- Tjiputra J
Publication Date: 2016-03-16
Type: Journal Article
Denitrification, leaching, and river nitrogen export in the Community Earth System Model
Publication Date: 2016-03-01
Type: Journal Article
Evaluating the ocean biogeochemical components of Earth system models using atmospheric potential oxygen and ocean color data
Publication Date: 2015-01-01
Type: Journal Article
Evaluating the ocean biogeochemical components of Earth system models using atmospheric potential oxygen and ocean color data (vol 12, pg 193, 2015)
Publication Date: 2015-01-01
Type: Journal Article
A model for the induction of autism in the ecosystem of the human body: the anatomy of a modern pandemic?
Publication Date: 2015-01-01
Type: Journal Article
Correcting oceanic O-2/Ar-net community production estimates for vertical mixing using N2O observations
Publication Date: 2014-12-28
Type: Journal Article
N2O production in the eastern South Atlantic: Analysis of N2O stable isotopic and concentration data
Publication Date: 2014-11-01
Type: Journal Article
A comparison of temporal trends in United States autism prevalence to trends in suspected environmental factors
Publication Date: 2014-09-05
Type: Journal Article
Quantifying the impact of anthropogenic nitrogen deposition on oceanic nitrous oxide
Publication Date: 2012-04-12
Type: Journal Article
Estimating net community production in the Southern Ocean based on atmospheric potential oxygen and satellite ocean color data
Publication Date: 2012-03-08
Type: Journal Article
On the processes controlling the seasonal cycles of the air-sea fluxes of O-2 and N2O: A modelling study
Publication Date: 2012-01-01
Type: Journal Article
Exploring causes of interannual variability in the seasonal cycles of tropospheric nitrous oxide
Nevison CD; Dlugokencky E; Dutton G; Elkins JW; Fraser P; Hall B; Krummel PB; Langenfelds RL; O'Doherty S; Prinn RG...
- Nevison CD
- Dlugokencky E
- Dutton G
- Elkins JW
- Fraser P
- Hall B
- Krummel PB
- Langenfelds RL
- O'Doherty S
- Prinn RG
Publication Date: 2011-01-01
Type: Journal Article
Systematic assessment of terrestrial biogeochemistry in coupled climate-carbon models
Randerson JT; Hoffman FM; Thornton PE; Mahowald NM; Lindsay K; Lee Y-H; Nevison CD; Doney SC; Bonan G; Stoeckli R...
- Randerson JT
- Hoffman FM
- Thornton PE
- Mahowald NM
- Lindsay K
- Lee Y-H
- Nevison CD
- Doney SC
- Bonan G
- Stoeckli R
Publication Date: 2009-10-01
Type: Journal Article
Contribution of ocean, fossil fuel, land biosphere, and biomass burning carbon fluxes to seasonal and interannual variability in atmospheric CO2
Nevison CD; Mahowald NM; Doney SC; Lima ID; Van der Werf GR; Randerson JT; Baker DF; Kasibhatla P; McKinley GA...
- Nevison CD
- Mahowald NM
- Doney SC
- Lima ID
- Van der Werf GR
- Randerson JT
- Baker DF
- Kasibhatla P
- McKinley GA
Publication Date: 2008-02-12
Type: Journal Article
Impact of variable air-sea O-2 and CO2 fluxes on atmospheric potential oxygen (APO) and land-ocean carbon sink partitioning
Publication Date: 2008-01-01
Type: Journal Article
Interannual and seasonal variability in atmospheric N2O
Publication Date: 2007-09-11
Type: Journal Article