Education: I
received my Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from
Loyola University of Chicago in 1990 and my Ph.D. from
the Department of Geosciences at Penn State University
in 1997 studying under Drs. Patrick Hatcher and Katherine
Freeman. I was a Carnegie Institution of Washington (CIW)
postdoctoral fellow from 1997-1999 and a CIW-NASA Astrobiology
Institute postdoctoral fellow from 1999-2000.
Me
at Purdue: Since my arrival at Purdue in fall 2000, I have undertaken the construction of a new stable isotope terrestrial biogeochemistry laboratory. Included in this task was the renovation of existing laboratory space to function as a state of the art analytical and instrumental facility for scientific pursuits in the field of molecular isotope biogeochemistry. I was promoted to Associate Professor in 2006 and took on the role of associate department head for EAS. Subsequently, I have been joined by two additional stable isotope geochemist colleagues in EAS, Dr. Greg Michalski and Dr. Gabe Bowen, and together we co-run the Purdue Stable Isotope Facility (PSI). In the Filley group we have multiple laboratories for the isolation and biogeochemical characterization of soil and aquatic organic matter fractions.
I am also one of the founding members of the Purdue Climate Change Research Center and serve as a member of its executive committee.
Research Interests: My research group studies the fundamental processes controlling carbon and nitrogen cycling in soil and streams within natural and managed ecosystems. A primary goal of this work is to develop a stronger scientific basis for modeling soil organic matter dynamics, ecosystem processes, and the global carbon cycle with an emphasis on how perturbation to ecosystems, i.e. woody plant encroachment and increases in atmospheric CO2 interact with soil properties to sequester carbon and nitrogen. To accomplish this, we use field based experiments, such as the Free Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE) sites or maintained chronosequences of forest encroachment, and a variety of analytical approaches, including molecular chemistry, microbial activity assays, and stable isotope techniques.
My Affiliations with Scientific Organizations:
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
American Chemical Society (ACS)
Soil Science Society of America (SSSA)
My Role in the American Chemical Society: In 2005 I was elected to take over as the Program Chair for the Geochemistry Division of the American Chemical Society in 2006. I planned the August 2007 Boston meeting and on the April 2008 New Orleans meeting. I am currently the ACS Geochemistry Division Chair.
Recent Activities:
Co-Organized a symposium at the 2004 Fall AGU national meeting. Ecosystems in Flux: Molecular and Stable Isotopic Assessments of Soil Organic Matter Storage and Dynamics. 43 contributors which resulted in Tom Boutton and I guest editing a special issue of Soil Biology and Biochemistry. Vol 38, No 11, November 2006. (Filley and Boutton 2006).
Spring 2006 I was on sabbatical at Texas A&M University in the Laboratory of Dr. Tom Boutton.
Program Chair for the ACS Geochemistry Division at the 234 National American Chemical Society Meeting (Boston).
Fall 2006 I was appointed Associate Head of the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Purdue University.
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