Last week, we were thrilled to host Abagael Pruitt and Ryan Meyer, both PhD students in the Tank Lab at Notre Dame. Like the Jones Center, the Tank lab has research interest in streams and rivers embedded in agricultural landscapes and the interaction of land-use on water quality and biogeochemistry.

In this visit, we focused on methods to measure denitrification, the microbial process that converts nitrate (NO3-) to nitrogen gas (N2), a process of tremendous value in removing nutrients from rivers. We collected water samples (every hour for 36 hours!) that Abagael and Ryan returned to Notre Dame to analyze for N2 and argon concentrations. We also collected samples for NO3 and NH4 that we will analyze at the Jones Center, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and continuous dissolved oxygen. We will use these data to understand aerobic metabolic processes, surface water turbulence, and ultimately denitrification rate and compare our sites to sites in Indiana, which have much higher NO3 concentrations.

We all had a tremendous time on the water for the night-day-night cycle. Lots of fun (and some shenanigans) were had while waiting in-between sampling points. Maybe even a nap or 2 during the wee hours of the early morning.