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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

Lane Allen
PhD student

Natalie Aranda
Grad student

Jared Collins
Grad student

Lauren Magliozzi
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

Rare Earth Water (The Poetry of Science)

An original poem and science podcast episode of The Poetry of Science, by Sam Illingworth, inspired by Garrett Rue and Diane McKnight's new paper reporting on climate change as a driver of acid rock drainage and rare earth element contamination of the Snake River, Colorado. Read more

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

Sources and fates of dissolved organic carbon in lakes as determined by whole-lake carbon isotope additions

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors: Bade DL; Carpenter SR; Cole JJ; Pace ML; Kritzberg E; Van de Bogert MC; Cory RM; McKnight DM

Published in: Biogeochemistry: an international journal
Publication Date: 2007-06-01
Type: Journal Article

Photooxidation of wetland and riverine dissolved organic matter: altered copper complexation and organic composition

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors: Brooks ML; Meyer JS; McKnight DM

Published in: Hydrobiologia: the international journal on limnology and marine sciences
Publication Date: 2007-03-01
Type: Journal Article

Photochemical control of copper complexation by dissolved organic matter in Rocky Mountain streams, Colorado

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors: Brooks ML; McKnight DM; Clements WH

Published in: Limnology and Oceanography
Publication Date: 2007-03-01
Type: Journal Article

Biogeochemical stoichiometry of Antarctic Dry Valley ecosystems

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors:

Barrett JE; Virginia RA; Lyons WB; McKnight DM; Priscu JC; Doran PT; Fountain AG; Wall DH; Moorhead DL...

Barrett JE
Virginia RA
Lyons WB
McKnight DM
Priscu JC
Doran PT
Fountain AG
Wall DH
Moorhead DL

Published in: Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences
Publication Date: 2007-02-07
Type: Journal Article

Chemical characterization of DOM in channels of a seasonal wetland

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors: Mladenov N; McKnight DM; Macko SA; Norris M; Cory RM; Ramberg L

Published in: Aquatic Sciences: research across boundaries
Publication Date: 2007-01-01
Type: Journal Article

Characterization of a nitrogen-rich fulvic acid and its precursor algae from solid state NMR

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie

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

Published in: Organic Geochemistry
Publication Date: 2007-01-01
Type: Journal Article

Hyporheic exchange and fulvic acid redox reactions in an alpine stream/wetland ecosystem, Colorado front range

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors: Miller MP; McKnight DM; Cory RM; Williams MW; Runkel RL

Published in: Environmental Science and Technology (Washington)
Publication Date: 2006-10-01
Type: Journal Article

Antarctic climate cooling and response of diatoms in glacial meltwater streams

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

All Authors: Esposito RMM; Horn SL; McKnight DM; Cox MJ; Grant MC; Spaulding SA; Doran PT; Cozzetto KD

Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
Publication Date: 2006-04-15
Type: Journal Article

A stable isotopic investigation of a polar desert hydrologic system, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica

CU Boulder Authors: Gooseff, Mike; Vaughn, Bruce H; McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors: Gooseff MN; Lyons WB; McKnight DM; Vaughn BH; Fountain AG; Dowling C

Published in: Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research
Publication Date: 2006-02-01
Type: Journal Article

Experimental investigations into processes controlling stream and hyporheic temperatures, Fryxell Basin, Antarctica

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors: Cozzetto K; McKnight D; Nylen T; Fountain A

Published in: Advances in Water Resources
Publication Date: 2006-02-01
Type: Journal Article

Spatial and temporal active layer dynamics along three glacial meltwater streams in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors: Conovitz PA; MacDonald LH; McKnight DM

Published in: Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research
Publication Date: 2006-02-01
Type: Journal Article

Trophic Dynamics

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors: Cleveland C; Townsend AR; MCKNIGHT DM

Publication Date: 2006-01-01
Type: Chapter

The Lost Seal

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors: MCKNIGHT DM

Publication Date: 2006-01-01
Type: Book

Fluorescence spectroscopy reveals ubiquitous presence of oxidized and reduced quinones in dissolved organic matter

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors: Cory RM; McKnight DM

Published in: Environmental Science and Technology (Washington)
Publication Date: 2005-11-01
Type: Journal Article

Editorial

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors: McKnight D

Published in: Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences
Publication Date: 2005-09-07
Type: Journal Article

Spectrofluorometric and spectrophotometric evaluation of the photoreactivity of dissolved organic matter from a coastal lake on Ross Island, Antarctica

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors: Guerard J; Cory RM; McKnight D; Miller PL

Published in: ACS National Meeting Book of Abstracts
Publication Date: 2005-08-28
Type: Journal Article

The specific molecular identification of life experiment (SMILE)

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors: Sims MR; Cullen DC; Bannister NP; Grant WD; Henry O; Jones R; McKnight D; Thompson DP; Wilson PK

Published in: Planetary and Space Science
Publication Date: 2005-07-01
Type: Journal Article

Sources of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in a Rocky Mountain stream using chemical fractionation and stable isotopes

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors: Hood E; Williams MW; Mcknight DM

Published in: Biogeochemistry: an international journal
Publication Date: 2005-06-01
Type: Journal Article

Sensitivity analysis of conservative and reactive stream transient storage models applied to field data from multiple-reach experiments

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie; Gooseff, Mike

All Authors: Gooseff MN; Bencala KE; Scott DT; Runkel RL; McKnight DM

Published in: Advances in Water Resources
Publication Date: 2005-05-01
Type: Journal Article

Comment on "El Nino suppresses Antarctic warming" by N. Bertler et al.

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie; Clow, Gary D

All Authors:

Doran PT; Priscu JC; Lyons WB; Walsh JE; Fountain AG; McKnight DM; Moorhead DL; Virginia RA; Wall DH; Clow GD...

Doran PT
Priscu JC
Lyons WB
Walsh JE
Fountain AG
McKnight DM
Moorhead DL
Virginia RA
Wall DH
Clow GD

Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
Publication Date: 2005-04-08
Type: Journal Article

Carbon limitation of soil respiration under winter snowpacks: potential feedbacks between growing season and winter carbon fluxes

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors: Brooks PD; McKnight D; Elder K

Published in: Global Change Biology
Publication Date: 2005-02-01
Type: Journal Article

A temperature-index model of stream flow at below-freezing temperatures in Taylor Valley, Antarctica

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors: Ebnet AF; Fountain AG; Nylen TH; McKnight DM; Jaros CL

Published in: Annals of Glaciology
Publication Date: 2005-01-01
Type: Journal Article

Chemical characterization of dissolved organic material in Pony Lake, a saline coastal pond in Antarctica

CU Boulder Authors: McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors: Brown A; McKnight DM; Chin YP; Roberts EC; Uhle M

Published in: Marine Chemistry
Publication Date: 2004-10-01
Type: Journal Article

Denitrification and hydrologic transient storage in a glacial meltwater stream, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica

CU Boulder Authors: Gooseff, Mike; McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors: Gooseff MN; McKnight DM; Runkel RL; Duff JH

Published in: Limnology and Oceanography
Publication Date: 2004-09-01
Type: Journal Article

Reach-scale cation exchange controls on major ion chemistry of an Antarctic glacial meltwater stream

CU Boulder Authors: Gooseff, Mike; McKnight, Diane Marie

All Authors: Gooseff MN; Mcknight DM; Runkel RL

Published in: Aquatic Geochemistry
Publication Date: 2004-09-01
Type: Journal Article

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Breadcrumb

Organic Matter Spectroscopy Lab

Breadcrumb

Organic Matter Spectroscopy Lab

Contact & services

News

Publications

Trophic Dynamics

The Lost Seal

Spectrofluorometric and spectrophotometric evaluation of the photoreactivity of dissolved organic matter from a coastal lake on Ross Island, Antarctica

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