A USGS scientist maintaining a soil monitoring station in the Elk Mountains of Colorado. Soils play an important role in the global carbon cycle. USGS scientists measure and map soil carbon storage in many public lands of the southwestern U.S.
Corey Lawrence
I am a Research Geologist at the Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center in Denver, CO. The overarching objectives of my research are to (1) describe and quantify natural biogeochemical processes at the Earth's surface and (2) determine how these processes will respond to climate and/or landuse change.
Many biogeochemical processes are often dominated by exchanges between the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere. Over long timescales, the flux of matter and energy shapes both the physical structure and chemical composition of the Critical Zone and over shorter timescales, these features determine how the system responds to disturbances. Developing a mechanistic understanding of the processes controlling these fluxes is essential for predicting and managing the function of environmental resources and the sustainability of agricultural systems.
Professional Experience
Mendenhall Postdoctoral Fellow, U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA, 2009-2011
Postdoctoral Research Affiliate, U.S. Geological Survey, Moab, UT, 2009
Research Assistant, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 2004-2009
Research Assistant, The Ecosystems Centers, Woods Hole, MA, 2002-2004
Undergraduate Researcher, Toolik Lake LTER, Toolik Lake, AK, 2001
Research Assistant, Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY, 2000
Research Intern, Atmospheric Science Research Center, Wilmington, NY, 1999
Education and Certifications
Ph.D., Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 2009
B.S., Environmental Science & Policy, Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY, 2002
B.S., Biology, Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY, 2002
Science and Products
Regional Assessment of Drought Impacts on Soils (RADIS)
What lies below? Improving quantification and prediction of soil carbon storage, stability, and susceptibility to disturbance.
Soil data release of legacy data collected from a soil chronosequence in Northern Michigan
Soil data release of U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1590, collected across the Western United States between 1975 and 1983
Abiotic sorption of glucose, glutamic acid, hydroxybenzoic acid, and oxalic acid onto amorphous aluminum hydroxide, feldspar, ferrihydrite, and kaolinite
U.S. Geological Survey Soil Sample Archive
Data from a reactive transport modeling study of cave seepage water chemistry
Soil Biogeochemical Data from a Marine Terrace Soil Climo-Chronosequence Comparison
A sequential selective dissolution method to quantify storage and stability of organic carbon associated with Al and Fe hydroxide phases
Data for Dust deposited on snow cover in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado, 2011-2016: Compositional variability bearing on snow-melt effects
Batch sorption data, respired CO2, extractable DOC, and Raman spectra collected from an incubation with microbial necromass on feldspar or amorphous aluminum hydroxide
A USGS scientist maintaining a soil monitoring station in the Elk Mountains of Colorado. Soils play an important role in the global carbon cycle. USGS scientists measure and map soil carbon storage in many public lands of the southwestern U.S.
A scenic view of Gothic Mountain in the Elk Mountains of Colorado. USGS scientists captured this photo while collecting soil sample data in the area.
A scenic view of Gothic Mountain in the Elk Mountains of Colorado. USGS scientists captured this photo while collecting soil sample data in the area.
A view of Gothic Mountain from the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory research meadow in Gothic, Colorado.
A view of Gothic Mountain from the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory research meadow in Gothic, Colorado.
A forest trail meanders through a grove of Aspen trees in Colorado during early autumn.
A forest trail meanders through a grove of Aspen trees in Colorado during early autumn.
A USGS scientist preparing a soil monitoring station for winter, with a view of Mt. Baldy in the Colorado Elk Mountains.
A USGS scientist preparing a soil monitoring station for winter, with a view of Mt. Baldy in the Colorado Elk Mountains.
Sampling a marine terrace within the Mattole River soil chronosequence to quantify the impact of simulating soil drying and re-wetting on the release of greenhouse gases.
Sampling a marine terrace within the Mattole River soil chronosequence to quantify the impact of simulating soil drying and re-wetting on the release of greenhouse gases.
USGS field crew taking a break in digging soil pits Mattole soil chronosequence.
USGS field crew taking a break in digging soil pits Mattole soil chronosequence.
Deep root activity overprints weathering of petrogenic organic carbon in shale
The influence of soil development on the depth distribution and structure of soil microbial communities.
Mechanisms for retention of low molecular weight organic carbon varies with soil depth at a coastal prairie ecosystem
Beyond bulk: Density fractions explain heterogeneity in global soil carbon abundance and persistence
Concentration-discharge relationships of dissolved rhenium in Alpine catchments reveal its use as a tracer of oxidative weathering
The trajectory of soil development and its relationship to soil carbon dynamics
A reactive transport approach to modeling cave seepage water chemistry II: Elemental signatures
A reactive transport approach to modeling cave seepage water chemistry I: Carbon isotope transformations
Development of soil radiocarbon profiles in a reactive transport framework
Soil respiration response to rainfall modulated by plant phenology in a montane meadow, East River, Colorado, USA
Integrating airborne remote sensing and field campaigns for ecology and Earth system science
Dust deposited on snow cover in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado, 2011-2016: Compositional variability bearing on snow-melt effects
Non-USGS Publications**
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Science and Products
Regional Assessment of Drought Impacts on Soils (RADIS)
What lies below? Improving quantification and prediction of soil carbon storage, stability, and susceptibility to disturbance.
Soil data release of legacy data collected from a soil chronosequence in Northern Michigan
Soil data release of U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1590, collected across the Western United States between 1975 and 1983
Abiotic sorption of glucose, glutamic acid, hydroxybenzoic acid, and oxalic acid onto amorphous aluminum hydroxide, feldspar, ferrihydrite, and kaolinite
U.S. Geological Survey Soil Sample Archive
Data from a reactive transport modeling study of cave seepage water chemistry
Soil Biogeochemical Data from a Marine Terrace Soil Climo-Chronosequence Comparison
A sequential selective dissolution method to quantify storage and stability of organic carbon associated with Al and Fe hydroxide phases
Data for Dust deposited on snow cover in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado, 2011-2016: Compositional variability bearing on snow-melt effects
Batch sorption data, respired CO2, extractable DOC, and Raman spectra collected from an incubation with microbial necromass on feldspar or amorphous aluminum hydroxide
A USGS scientist maintaining a soil monitoring station in the Elk Mountains of Colorado. Soils play an important role in the global carbon cycle. USGS scientists measure and map soil carbon storage in many public lands of the southwestern U.S.
A USGS scientist maintaining a soil monitoring station in the Elk Mountains of Colorado. Soils play an important role in the global carbon cycle. USGS scientists measure and map soil carbon storage in many public lands of the southwestern U.S.
A scenic view of Gothic Mountain in the Elk Mountains of Colorado. USGS scientists captured this photo while collecting soil sample data in the area.
A scenic view of Gothic Mountain in the Elk Mountains of Colorado. USGS scientists captured this photo while collecting soil sample data in the area.
A view of Gothic Mountain from the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory research meadow in Gothic, Colorado.
A view of Gothic Mountain from the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory research meadow in Gothic, Colorado.
A forest trail meanders through a grove of Aspen trees in Colorado during early autumn.
A forest trail meanders through a grove of Aspen trees in Colorado during early autumn.
A USGS scientist preparing a soil monitoring station for winter, with a view of Mt. Baldy in the Colorado Elk Mountains.
A USGS scientist preparing a soil monitoring station for winter, with a view of Mt. Baldy in the Colorado Elk Mountains.
Sampling a marine terrace within the Mattole River soil chronosequence to quantify the impact of simulating soil drying and re-wetting on the release of greenhouse gases.
Sampling a marine terrace within the Mattole River soil chronosequence to quantify the impact of simulating soil drying and re-wetting on the release of greenhouse gases.
USGS field crew taking a break in digging soil pits Mattole soil chronosequence.
USGS field crew taking a break in digging soil pits Mattole soil chronosequence.
Deep root activity overprints weathering of petrogenic organic carbon in shale
The influence of soil development on the depth distribution and structure of soil microbial communities.
Mechanisms for retention of low molecular weight organic carbon varies with soil depth at a coastal prairie ecosystem
Beyond bulk: Density fractions explain heterogeneity in global soil carbon abundance and persistence
Concentration-discharge relationships of dissolved rhenium in Alpine catchments reveal its use as a tracer of oxidative weathering
The trajectory of soil development and its relationship to soil carbon dynamics
A reactive transport approach to modeling cave seepage water chemistry II: Elemental signatures
A reactive transport approach to modeling cave seepage water chemistry I: Carbon isotope transformations
Development of soil radiocarbon profiles in a reactive transport framework
Soil respiration response to rainfall modulated by plant phenology in a montane meadow, East River, Colorado, USA
Integrating airborne remote sensing and field campaigns for ecology and Earth system science
Dust deposited on snow cover in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado, 2011-2016: Compositional variability bearing on snow-melt effects
Non-USGS Publications**
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.