Global Change and Watershed Biogeochemistry LabSample Photo

John Harrison, Ph.D.

Room 230B, Engineering and Life Sciences Building
School of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Washington State University, Vancouver Campus
Vancouver, WA 98686
Phone: (360) 546-9210
Fax: (360) 546-9064
email: harrisoj@vancouver.wsu.edu

Curriculum Vitae (pdf format)

 

 

Research Interests

Due largely to human activities associated with food and energy production, the world is experiencing an un-precedented mobilization of bio-active nutrients such as nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). A substantial portion of mobilized N and P flows into streams and rivers, and eventually down to coastal waters, where nutrient over-enrichment has been associated with a host of environmental impacts, including increased frequency and severity of low-oxygen events, increased frequency and severity of harmful algal blooms (e.g. red and brown tides), and loss of biodiversity. En route to the ocean, these nutrients can strongly impact ecosystem function and can also affect the balance of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

In my research I use experimental, remote sensing, and modeling approaches to elucidate processes governing the mobilization, transport, transformation and ecosystem/biogeochemical impacts of land-based N and P. Current and past projects focus on regional nutrient and greenhouse gas dynamics in the Mexico's Yaqui Valley and in California's Central Valley. I also work at the global scale, and have developed spatially explicit, global models of nutrient and organic matter export as part of a UNESCO-IOC-funded research project called Global Nutrient Export from Watersheds (Global NEWS). In addition to these projects, I am currently working to develop a research focus on the biogeochemistry of Pacific Northwest watersheds.

Selected Recent Publications

  1. Harrison, J.A., A.F. Bouwman, E. Mayorga, and S.P. Seitzinger (Submitted) Magnitudes and Sources of Dissolved Inorganic Phosphorus Inputs to Surface Fresh Waters and the Coastal Zone: A New Global Model. Global Biogeochemical Cycles.
  2. Mayorga, E., S.P. Seitzinger, J.A. Harrison, E. Dumont, and A.H.W. Beusen (Submitted) Riverine sources, retention and export of nutrients and carbon: An enhanced framework and integrated scenarios application of the Global Nutrient Export from WaterSheds (NEWS) model, Environmental Modelling & Software.
  3. Seitzinger, S.P., E. Mayorga, C. Kroeze, A.F. Bouwman, A.H.W. Beusen,G. Billen, G. Van Drecht, E. Dumont, B.M. Fekete, J. Garnier, and J.A. Harrison (Submitted) Global River Nutrient Export Trajectories 1970-2050: A Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Scenario Analysis. Global Biogeochemical Cycles.
  4. Van Drecht, G., A.F. Bouwman, J.A. Harrison, and J. Knoop (In Press) Global nitrogen and phosphate in urban waste water for the period 1970-2050. Global Biogeochemical Cycles.
  5. Sobota, D. J., J.A. Harrison, and R. A. Dahlgren (2009) Input and export of nitrogen for watersheds in the Central Valley, California: annual and seasonal patterns. Biogeochemistry. DOI 10.1007/s10533-009-9307-y. (pdf)
  6. Harrison, J.A., R. Maranger, R.B. Alexander, A. Giblin, P.-A. Jacinthe, E. Mayorga, S.P. Seitzinger, D.J. Sobota, and W. Wollheim (2008) Controls and significance of N retention in lakes and reservoirs. Biogeochemistry, DOI 10.1007/s10533-008-9272-x. (pdf)
  7. Ahrens, T., J.A. Harrison, J.M. Beman, P.A. Matson, P. Jewett, and I. Ortiz-Monasterio (In Press) Nitrogen in the Yaqui Valley: Sources, Transfers, and Consequences, Chapter 9 in: P.A. Matson, R. Naylor, and W.P. Falcon (Eds.) A transition to sustainability: Harmonizing agriculture, development and environment in the Yaqui Valley, NRC Press, Washington D.C.
  8. Liu, K.-K., S. Seitzinger, E. Mayorga, J. Harrison, and V. Ittekkot (2008) Fluxes of nutrients and selected organic pollutants carried by rivers, Chapter 8 in: E. Urban & S. Greenwood (Eds.) PACKMEDS - Dynamics and vulnerability of semi-enclosed marine systems: the integrated effects of changes in sediment and nutrient input from land. Scientific Committee on Progress in the Environment (SCOPE), New York.
  9. Wolheim, W.M., C.J. Vorosmarty, A.F. Bouwman, P. Green, J.A. Harrison, M. Meybeck, B.J. Peterson, S.P. Seitzinger, and J.P. Syvitski (2008) A spatially distributed framework for aquatic modeling of the Earth system (FrAMES). Global Biogeochemical Cycles, DOI:10.1029/2007GB002963 (pdf)
  10. Chow, A., R.A. Dahlgren, J. Harrison (2007) Watershed sources of disinfection byproduct precursors in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, California. Environmental Science & Technology, 41(22), 8645-7652. (pdf)
  11. Seitzinger, S. P. and J. A. Harrison, (2008) Sources and Delivery of Nitrogen to Coastal Systems, Chapter 8 in Nitrogen in the Marine Environment, 2nd edition. D. Capone, D.A. Bronk, M. R. Mullholland, E. Carpenter Eds., Academic Press, New York (pdf).
  12. Seitzinger, S. P., J. A. Harrison, J. K. Bohlke, A. F. Bouwman, R. Lowrance, B. J. Peterson, C. Tobias, and G. Van Drecht (2006) Denitrification across landscapes and waterscapes: a synthesis, Ecological Applications, 16, (6), 2064–2090 (pdf).
  13. Glibert, P. M., J. A. Harrison, C. Heil and S. P. Seitzinger (2006) Escalating worldwide use of urea: a global change contributing to coastal eutrophication, Biogeochemistry, doi:10.1007/S10533-3070-0, 1-23 (pdf).