
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.
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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.