Brian Richards

Brian Richards is a Senior Research Associate in the BEE Soil and Water Lab. His research focuses on the interaction of soil, water and a wide range of substances – including trace elements, nutrients, pesticides, colloids – which in the wrong place and/or at deleterious concentrations are regarded as contaminants. Recent major research directions include the impacts of agricultural and perennial bioenergy cropping systems on soils and soil emissions.

Additional Links

Soil and Water Lab Website

Awards and Honors

Partnership Award for Mission Integration (2008) USDA-CSREES (Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service) BEE Soil & Water Group (Steenhuis, Walter, Parlange, Walter, Geohring & Richards)

Selected Publications

Journal Publications

Hassanpour, B., Richards, B. K., Geohring, L. D., Parlange, J., & Steenhuis, T. S. (2019). Predicting the Fate of Preferentially Moving Herbicides. Vadose Zone Journal.
Richards, B. K., Pacenka, S., Meyer, M. T., Dietze, J. E., Schatz, A. L., Teuffer, K., Aristilde, L., & Steenhuis, T. S. (2018). Antecedent and post-application rain events trigger glyphosate transport from runoff-prone soil. Environmental Science & Technology. 5:249-254.
Das, S., Teuffer, K., Stoof, C. R., Walter, M. T., Walter, M. F., Steenhuis, T. S., & Richards, B. K. (2018). Perennial Grass Bioenergy Cropping on Wet Marginal Land: Impacts on Soil Properties, Soil Organic Carbon, and Biomass During Initial Establishment. BioEnergy Research. 11:262-276.
Mason, C. W., Stoof, C. R., Richards, B. K., Das, S., Goodale, C. L., & Steenhuis, T. S. (2017). Hotspots of Nitrous Oxide Emission in Fertilized and Unfertilized Perennial Grasses. Soil Science Society of America Journal. 81:450-458.
Mason, C. R., Richards, B. K., Das, S., Stoof, C. R., Molodovskaya, M., & Steenhuis, T. S. Low-cost chambers and practical methods for soil emissions campaigns. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology.
Mason, C., Stoof, C., Richards, B. K., Rossiter, D., & Steenhuis, T. S. (2015). Spring-thaw N2O emissions from reed canarygrass on wetness-prone marginal soil in New York State. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Journal. MS. No. S-2015-05-0182-OR, under review.
Stoof, C. R., Richards, B. K., Woodbury, P. B., Fabio, E. S., Brumbach, A., Cherney, J. H., Das, S., Geohring, L., Hansen, J. L., Hornesky, J., Mayton, H. S., Mason, C., Ruestow, G., Smart, L., Volk, T. A., & Steenhuis, T. (2015). Untapped potential: Opportunities and challenges for sustainable bioenergy production from marginal lands in the Northeast USA. BioEnergy Research. 8:482-501.
Hafner, S., Rennuit, C., Triolo, J. M., & Richards, B. K. (2015). Validation of a simple gravimetric method for measuring biogas production in laboratory experiments. Biomass & Bioenergy. 83:297-301.
Richards, B. K., Stoof, C. R., Cary, I. J., & Woodbury, P. B. (2014). Reporting on marginal lands for bioenergy feedstock production - a modest proposal. BioEnergy Research. 7:1060-1062.
Khanmirzaei, A., Bazargan, K., Moezzi, A. A., Richards, B. K., & Shahbazi, K. (2013). Single and Sequential Extraction of Cadmium in Some Highly Calcareous Soils of Southwestern Iran. Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition. 13:153-164.

Presentations and Activities

Glyphosate Mobility on Transport-Prone Soils. Northeastern Plant, Pest and Soils Conference. January 2020. Northeastern Branch of ASA, CSSA, and SSSA. Philaedlphia.
Perennial Grass Feedstock Production on Wetness-Prone Marginal Soils in New York. Switchgrass V International Conference: Dedicated Energy Crops and Native Grasses for the Emerging Bioeconomy. July 2019. University of Illinois. Urbana, IL.
Glyphosate Mobility in Transport-Prone Soils. 2019 Cornell Pesticide Applicator In-service Training. April 2019. Cornell University. Ithaca, NY United States.
Improving BMP determination with mass-based measurements. Conference on Monitoring & Process Control of Anaerobic Digestion Plants. March 2019. Leipzig, Germany.
Perennial Grass Bioenergy Feedstocks on Wetness-Prone Marginal Soils in New York: Yield, Emissions, and Soil Carbon Trends. Switchgrass Collaboration Meeting. February 2019. Noble Institute. Ardmore, OK.
Glyphosate Mobility in Transport-Prone Soils. 2018 Ag, Food and Environmental Systems In-service. November 2018. Cornell Cooperative Extension. Ithaca, NY United States.
Characterizing and mitigating glyphosate herbicide mobilization in agroecosystems. FY 2018 Water and Soils Project Directors Annual Meeting. October 2018. USDA-NIFA. University of Delaware, Newark, DE.
Rethinking Glyphosate: A Multidisciplinary Approach. 8th Annual Sustainability Pitch and Poster Competition. October 2017. Cornell - Atkinson Center for Sustainable Futures. Ithaca, NY.
Perennial Grass Bioenergy Feedstocks on Wetness-Prone Marginal Soils in New York: Yield, Emissions, and Soil Carbon Trends. NEWBio Bioenergy Consortium Annual Meeting. September 2017. NEWBio NE Bioenergy Consortium/MABEX Conference & Expo. State College, PA.
Sustainable Perennial Grass Bioenergy Production on Marginal Lands of the Northeast: Six Years and Counting. USDA Sustainable Bioenergy Program Project Director Meeting. October 2016. USDA-NIFA. New Orleans, LA.