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

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., Goodale, C. L., & Steenhuis, T. S. Nitrous oxide fluxes from perennial grass bioenergy crops: cumulative emissions and estimated confidence intervals. BioEnergy Research.
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

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.
Perennial Grass Bioenergy Feedstocks on Wetness-Prone Marginal Soils in New York: Yield, Emissions, and Soil Carbon Trends. NEWBio Bioenergy Consortium Annual Meeting. July 2016. NEWBio NE Bioenergy Consortium. State College, PA.
Untapped Potential: Bioenergy Production on Marginal Lands of NY and the Northeast. Northeast Region Certified Crop Advisor Annual Training Meeting. December 2015. NRCCA/ASA/NYS. Syracuse, NY.
Sustainable Perennial Grass Bioenergy Production on Marginal Lands of the Northeast: Five Years and Counting. USDA Sustainable Bioenergy Program Project Director Meeting. November 2015. USDA-NIFA. Denver CO.
Bioenergy research outreach: Observations of an on-the-job learner. USDA Sustainable Bioenergy Program Project Director Meeting. November 2015. USDA-NIFA. Denver CO.
Carbon sequestration and gaseous emissions in perennial grass bioenergy cropping systems in the Northeastern US. USDA Sustainable Bioenergy Program Project Director Meeting. November 2015. USDA-NIFA. Denver CO.
Earthworm abundance and diversity within a range of permanent and temporal moisture conditions in biofuel crops. First Global Soil Biodiversity Conference. December 2014. Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative. Dijon, France.
Marginal Lands and Bioenergy. NEWBio Project Webinar Series. November 2014. NEWBio.