Breadcrumb
Bio
My research focuses on interactions between hydrologic, chemical and biological processes in controlling the dynamics in aquatic ecosystems.
This research is carried out through field-scale experiments, modeling, and laboratory characterization of natural substrates. Conducts research focusing on interactions between freshwater biota, trace metals, and natural organic material in diverse freshwater environments, including lakes and streams in the Colorado Rocky Mountains and in the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica.
Main field sites are located in the Rocky Mountains and in the Transantarctic Mountains of Antarctica, and include pristine and stressed ecosystems. A co-principal investigator in the McMurdo Dry Valley LTER and in the Niwot Ridge LTER.
Develops interactions with state and local groups involved in mine drainage and watershed issues in the Rocky Mountains.
CU Connections interview "Five Questions for Diane McKnight."
Education
- PhD: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1979
Awards
- Distinguished Professor, University of Colorado System, 2021
- Robert E. Horton Medal, American Geophysical Union, 2021
- AEESP Distinguished Lecturer, Association of Environmental Engineering & Science Professors Foundation, 2019
- John Dalton Medal, European Geosciences Union, 2015
- Distinguished Research Lectureship, CU Boulder, 2015
- Hydrology Section Award, American Geophysical Union, 2014
- Elected member, National Academy of Engineering, 2012
- Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2009
- Fellow, American Geophysical Union, 2004
- Meritorious Service Award, U.S. Geological Survey, 1995
Research
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Publications
Recent publications
Quantifying sources of increasing zinc from acid rock drainage in an alpine catchment under a changing hydrologic regime
Publication Date: 2013-02-28
Type: Journal Article
Hydrodynamic shear removal of the nuisance stalk‐forming diatom Didymosphenia geminata
Publication Date: 2013-02-01
Type: Journal Article
Rapid runoff via shallow throughflow and deeper preferential flow in a boreal catchment underlain by frozen silt (Alaska, USA)
Publication Date: 2013-02-01
Type: Journal Article
Microbial life at -13 °C in the brine of an ice-sealed Antarctic lake
Murray AE; Kenig F; Fritsen CH; McKay CP; Cawley KM; Edwards R; Kuhn E; McKnight DM; Ostrom NE; Peng V...
- Murray AE
- Kenig F
- Fritsen CH
- McKay CP
- Cawley KM
- Edwards R
- Kuhn E
- McKnight DM
- Ostrom NE
- Peng V
Publication Date: 2012-12-11
Type: Journal Article
Automated measurement of diatom size
Publication Date: 2012-11-01
Type: Journal Article
Climate-Change-Driven Deterioration of Water Quality in a Mineralized Watershed
Publication Date: 2012-09-04
Type: Journal Article
Identifying fluorescent pulp mill effluent in the Gulf of Maine and its watershed
Publication Date: 2012-08-01
Type: Journal Article
Extreme streams: flow intermittency as a control on diatom communities in meltwater streams in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica
Publication Date: 2012-08-01
Type: Journal Article
New Insights into the Source of Decadal Increases of Dissolved Organic Matter in Acid-Sensitive Lakes of the Northeastern United States
Publication Date: 2012-03-20
Type: Journal Article
The ecology of pulse events: insights from an extreme climatic event in a polar desert ecosystem
Publication Date: 2012-02-01
Type: Journal Article
The role of dissolved organic matter in arctic surface waters in the photolysis of hexachlorobenzene and lindane
Publication Date: 2012-01-18
Type: Journal Article
Carbon, metals, and grain size correlate with bacterial community structure in sediments of a high arsenic aquifer
Legg TM; Zheng Y; Simone B; Radloff KA; Mladenov N; Gonzalez A; Knights D; Siu HC; Rahman MM; Ahmed KM...
- Legg TM
- Zheng Y
- Simone B
- Radloff KA
- Mladenov N
- Gonzalez A
- Knights D
- Siu HC
- Rahman MM
- Ahmed KM
Publication Date: 2012-01-01
Type: Journal Article
15N and 13C{14N} NMR investigation of the major nitrogen-containing segment in an aquatic fulvic acid: Evidence for a hydantoin derivative
Publication Date: 2011-12-01
Type: Journal Article
Hydrologic processes influence diatom community composition in Dry Valley streams
Publication Date: 2011-12-01
Type: Journal Article
Hydrological Connectivity of the Landscape of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica
Publication Date: 2011-09-01
Type: Journal Article
Redox character of soil humic material suggests a role in microbial weathering of bedrock surfaces
Publication Date: 2011-08-28
Type: Journal Article
When a habitat freezes solid: microorganisms over-winter within the ice column of a coastal Antarctic lake
Foreman CM; Dieser M; Greenwood M; Cory RM; Laybourn-Parry J; Lisle JT; Jaros C; Miller PL; Chin Y-P; McKnight DM...
- Foreman CM
- Dieser M
- Greenwood M
- Cory RM
- Laybourn-Parry J
- Lisle JT
- Jaros C
- Miller PL
- Chin Y-P
- McKnight DM
Publication Date: 2011-06-01
Type: Journal Article
Simulating unsteady flow, anabranching, and hyporheic dynamics in a glacial meltwater stream using a coupled surface water routing and groundwater flow model
Publication Date: 2011-05-21
Type: Journal Article
Evaluating the link between nutrient loadings, algal activity, and formation of disinfection byproducts in watersheds
Publication Date: 2011-03-27
Type: Journal Article
Spectral Methods to Advance Understanding of Dissolved Organic Carbon Dynamics in Forested Catchments
Publication Date: 2011-01-01
Type: Chapter
Spatial variations in the geochemistry of glacial meltwater streams in the Taylor Valley, Antarctica
Publication Date: 2010-12-01
Type: Journal Article
Effects of short-term drying and irrigation on CO2 and CH4 production and emission from mesocosms of a northern bog and an alpine fen
Publication Date: 2010-09-01
Type: Journal Article
Overcoming "ecophobia": fostering environmental empathy through narrative in children's science literature
Publication Date: 2010-08-01
Type: Journal Article
New light on a dark subject: comment
Publication Date: 2010-06-01
Type: Journal Article
Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valley stream ecosystems as analogue to fluvial systems on Mars
Type: Chapter
Pages
Teaching
Current courses
- CVEN 5323: Applied Stream Ecology
Past courses
- CVEN 3434: Introduction to Applied Ecology
- CVEN 3454: Water Chemistry
- CVEN 5454: Environmental Engineering Chemistry
- CVEN 6404: Advanced Aquatic Chemistry
Current students
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