Dr. Travis William Drake

Research Interests

I am broadly interested in the flux, composition, and fate of terrestrial organic matter as it is leached and transferred from terrestrial to aquatic ecosystems. In particular, I study the extent to which anthropogenic disturbance of soils mobilizes previously stabilized soil organic carbon to fluvial networks, where it can be respired and outgassed as CO2 or CH4 to the atmosphere. My previous research has explored these dynamics in various ecosystems, including thawing permafrost in the Arctic and deforested and agriculturally-impacted soils in Central Africa.

At ETH, in collaboration with Dr. Johan Six and the Congo Biogeochemical Observatory, I will employ a paired-watershed approach to precisely quantify how agricultural land-use conversion in the Congo Basin alters the flux and composition of organic matter and greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, and N2O) to rivers. Unlike the Amazon Basin, the Congo has been spared from large-scale industrial deforestation, but recent trends indicate that rates of forest loss and agricultural land-use change are increasing. Our work will allow us to forecast the effect of this growing anthropogenic impact through the use of continuous river discharge measurements and high resolution in-situ monitoring of pristine and agricultural catchments located in the Congo’s lowland forests. Underpinning this research is an effort to improve methods of capturing whole watershed processes, since a growing body of work has indicated that headwater streams are disproportionately important vents for respired terrestrial greenhouse gases.

Key Topics

-Controls on dissolved organic matter fluxes, processing, and fate
-Aquatic outgassing of CO2, CH4, and N2O
-Anthropogenic impacts on the transfer of terrestrial carbon to aquatic systems

Education

Florida State University – Doctor of Science
August 2015 – December 2018

University of Colorado: Boulder – Master of Science
August 2011 – July 2014

Carleton College – Bachelor of Arts
August 2006 – May 2010

Curriculum Vitae

Download Curriculum Vitae Dr. Travis Drake (PDF, 182 KB)

Selected Publications

Drake, Travis W., et al. "Ancient low–molecular-weight organic acids in permafrost fuel rapid carbon dioxide production upon thaw." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112.45 (2015): 13946-13951.

Drake, Travis W., Peter A. Raymond, and Robert GM Spencer. "Terrestrial carbon inputs to inland waters: A current synthesis of estimates and uncertainty." Limnology and Oceanography Letters 3.3 (2018): 132-142.