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Organic Matter Spectroscopy Lab

Image: Boulder Reservoir by Richard Saxon

We measure the amount and character of dissolved organic matter from diverse ecosystems, especially aquatic ones. We often combine our lab data with field-scale experiments and modeling to understand of the interactions between hydrologic, chemical and biological processes in controlling the dynamics of these systems.

Diane McKnight
Director

Natalie Aranda
Grad student

Jared Collins
Grad student

Lauren Magliozzi
Grad student

Tanya Petach
Grad student

Mia Vanderwilt
Grad student

Alumni

Nayoung Hur, MS 2022
Garrett Rue, PhD 2019
Alia Lauren Khan, NSF Graduate Research Fellow
Maggie Burns, MA 2014 in Geography; now Hydrologist
Rachel Gabor, PhD 2013 in Environmental Studies
Jessica Ebert, MS 2012

Contact & services

Diane McKnight

Major equipment includes

Shimadzu TOC analyzer
Antec 9000 DON analyzer
Agilent 8453 spectrophotometer
FluroMax2 fluorometer
fractionation columns
Ulter-filtration

Josh Darling kneels to sample algal mats from a rocky meltwater stream in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica

Josh Darling kneels to sample algal mats from a rocky meltwater stream near Canada Glacier in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica

Researcher in shorts and a backpack stands on the grassy shore of an alpine lake within a rocky catchment

Researcher on the grassy shoreline of an alpine lake in the Rocky Mountains.

News

Students involved in Diane McKnight's ongoing research on water quality in the Snake River collect tracer samples along a tributary.

Rare earth elements and old mines spell trouble for Western water supplies

Acid rock and mine drainage into Western streams is a problem. Climate change is making it worse. Read more

More institute news for the Organic Matter Spectroscopy Lab

Publications

Publications for McKnight are shown below

Click to view publications

Microbial life at -13 degrees C in the brine of an ice-sealed Antarctic lake

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors:

Murray AE; Kenig F; Fritsen CH; McKay CP; Cawley KM; Edwards R; Kuhn E; McKnight DM; Ostrom NE; Peng V...

Murray AE
Kenig F
Fritsen CH
McKay CP
Cawley KM
Edwards R
Kuhn E
McKnight DM
Ostrom NE
Peng V

Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of USA
Publication Date: 2012-12-11
Type: Journal Article

Automated measurement of diatom size

CU Boulder Authors: Spaulding, Sarah A; McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors: Spaulding SA; Jewson DH; Bixby RJ; Nelson H; McKnight DM

Published in: Limnology and Oceanography: Methods
Publication Date: 2012-11-01
Type: Journal Article

Climate-Change-Driven Deterioration of Water Quality in a Mineralized Watershed

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors: Todd AS; Manning AH; Verplanck PL; Crouch C; McKnight DM; Dunham R

Published in: Environmental Science and Technology (Washington)
Publication Date: 2012-09-04
Type: Journal Article

Identifying fluorescent pulp mill effluent in the Gulf of Maine and its watershed

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors: Cawley KM; Butler KD; Aiken GR; Larsen LG; Huntington TG; McKnight DM

Published in: Marine Pollution Bulletin
Publication Date: 2012-08-01
Type: Journal Article

Extreme streams: flow intermittency as a control on diatom communities in meltwater streams in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors: Stanish LF; Kohler TJ; Esposito RMM; Simmons BL; Nielsen UN; Wall DH; Nemergut DR; McKnight DM

Published in: Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
Publication Date: 2012-08-01
Type: Journal Article

New Insights into the Source of Decadal Increases of Dissolved Organic Matter in Acid-Sensitive Lakes of the Northeastern United States

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie; SanClements, Michael

All Authors: SanClements MD; Oelsner GP; McKnight DM; Stoddard JL; Nelson SJ

Published in: Environmental Science and Technology (Washington)
Publication Date: 2012-03-20
Type: Journal Article

The ecology of pulse events: insights from an extreme climatic event in a polar desert ecosystem

CU Boulder Authors: Gooseff, Michael N; McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors: Nielsen UN; Wall DH; Adams BJ; Virginia RA; Ball BA; Gooseff MN; McKnight DM

Published in: Ecosphere
Publication Date: 2012-02-01
Type: Journal Article

The role of dissolved organic matter in arctic surface waters in the photolysis of hexachlorobenzene and lindane

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors: Grannas AM; Cory RM; Miller PL; Chin Y-P; McKnight DM

Published in: Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences
Publication Date: 2012-01-18
Type: Journal Article

Carbon, metals, and grain size correlate with bacterial community structure in sediments of a high arsenic aquifer

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie; Bilinski, Teresa

All Authors:

Legg TM; Zheng Y; Simone B; Radloff KA; Mladenov N; Gonzalez A; Knights D; Siu HC; Rahman MM; Ahmed KM...

Legg TM
Zheng Y
Simone B
Radloff KA
Mladenov N
Gonzalez A
Knights D
Siu HC
Rahman MM
Ahmed KM

Published in: Frontiers in Microbiology
Publication Date: 2012-01-01
Type: Journal Article

15N and 13C{14N} NMR investigation of the major nitrogen-containing segment in an aquatic fulvic acid: Evidence for a hydantoin derivative

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors: Fang X; Mao J; Cory RM; McKnight DM; Schmidt-Rohr K

Published in: Magnetic Resonance in Chemistry
Publication Date: 2011-12-01
Type: Journal Article

Hydrologic processes influence diatom community composition in Dry Valley streams

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors: Stanish LF; Nemergut DR; McKnight DM

Published in: Journal of the North American Benthological Society
Publication Date: 2011-12-01
Type: Journal Article

Hydrological Connectivity of the Landscape of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica

CU Boulder Authors: Gooseff, Michael N; McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors: Gooseff MN; McKnight DM; Doran P; Fountain AG; Lyons WB

Published in: Geography Compass
Publication Date: 2011-09-01
Type: Journal Article

Redox character of soil humic material suggests a role in microbial weathering of bedrock surfaces

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors: Gabor RS; McKnight DM

Published in: ACS National Meeting Book of Abstracts
Publication Date: 2011-08-28
Type: Journal Article

When a habitat freezes solid: microorganisms over-winter within the ice column of a coastal Antarctic lake

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors:

Foreman CM; Dieser M; Greenwood M; Cory RM; Laybourn-Parry J; Lisle JT; Jaros C; Miller PL; Chin Y-P; McKnight DM...

Foreman CM
Dieser M
Greenwood M
Cory RM
Laybourn-Parry J
Lisle JT
Jaros C
Miller PL
Chin Y-P
McKnight DM

Published in: FEMS Microbiology Ecology
Publication Date: 2011-06-01
Type: Journal Article

Simulating unsteady flow, anabranching, and hyporheic dynamics in a glacial meltwater stream using a coupled surface water routing and groundwater flow model

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie; Neupauer, Roseanna M.

All Authors: Koch JC; McKnight DM; Neupauer RM

Published in: Water Resources Research
Publication Date: 2011-05-21
Type: Journal Article

Evaluating the link between nutrient loadings, algal activity, and formation of disinfection byproducts in watersheds

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie; Rosario-Ortiz, Fernando L.; Summers, R Scott

All Authors: Hohner AK; Khan A; McKnight D; Summers RS; Rosario-Ortiz FL

Published in: ACS National Meeting Book of Abstracts
Publication Date: 2011-03-27
Type: Journal Article

Spectral Methods to Advance Understanding of Dissolved Organic Carbon Dynamics in Forested Catchments

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors: Cory RM; Boyer EW; McKnight DM

Published in: Ecological Studies
Publication Date: 2011-01-01
Type: Chapter

Spatial variations in the geochemistry of glacial meltwater streams in the Taylor Valley, Antarctica

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie; Gooseff, Michael N; Welch, Kathleen Ann

All Authors: Welch KA; Lyons WB; Whisner C; Gardner CB; Gooseff MN; McKnight DM; Priscu JC

Published in: Antarctic Science
Publication Date: 2010-12-01
Type: Journal Article

Effects of short-term drying and irrigation on CO2 and CH4 production and emission from mesocosms of a northern bog and an alpine fen

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors: Deppe M; Knorr K-H; McKnight DM; Blodau C

Published in: Biogeochemistry: an international journal
Publication Date: 2010-09-01
Type: Journal Article

Communicating with the public: opportunities and rewards for individual ecologists

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors:

Pace ML; Hampton SE; Limburg KE; Bennett EM; Cook EM; Davis AE; Grove JM; Kaneshiro KY; LaDeau SL; Likens GE...

Pace ML
Hampton SE
Limburg KE
Bennett EM
Cook EM
Davis AE
Grove JM
Kaneshiro KY
LaDeau SL
Likens GE

Published in: Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment
Publication Date: 2010-08-01
Type: Journal Article

Overcoming "ecophobia": fostering environmental empathy through narrative in children's science literature

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors: McKnight DM

Published in: Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment
Publication Date: 2010-08-01
Type: Journal Article

New light on a dark subject: comment

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors: Miller MP; Simone BE; McKnight DM; Cory RM; Williams MW; Boyer EW

Published in: Aquatic Sciences: research across boundaries
Publication Date: 2010-06-01
Type: Journal Article

Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valley stream ecosystems as analogue to fluvial systems on Mars

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie; Gooseff, Michael N

All Authors: GOOSEFF MN; McKnight DM; Carr M; Baeseman J

Publication Date: 2010-04-29
Type: Chapter

Life in Antarctic Deserts and other Cold Dry Environments

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors: Doran PT; Lyons WB; McKnight DM

Publication Date: 2010-04-29
Type: Book

Physiochemical properties influencing biomass abundance and primary production in Lake Hoare, Antarctica

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors: Herbei R; Lyons WB; Laybourn-Parry J; Gardner C; Priscu JC; McKnight DM

Published in: Ecological Modelling
Publication Date: 2010-04-24
Type: Journal Article

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Breadcrumb

Organic Matter Spectroscopy Lab

Breadcrumb

Organic Matter Spectroscopy Lab

Contact & services

News

Publications

Redox character of soil humic material suggests a role in microbial weathering of bedrock surfaces

Evaluating the link between nutrient loadings, algal activity, and formation of disinfection byproducts in watersheds

Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valley stream ecosystems as analogue to fluvial systems on Mars

Life in Antarctic Deserts and other Cold Dry Environments

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