Boston University Department of Biology

Faculty Profiles

Current Research

My research is focused on understanding the impact humans have on marine systems. I am especially interested in how various scales of impact (e.g., local: nutrient loading and global: climate change) interact to alter fundamental ecosystem processes. As a biogeochemist and ecologist an overarching goal of my research is to answer questions about energy flow and biogeochemical cycling of nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, and silica), carbon, and oxygen in a variety of environments. Current research is centered on the transformations and the ultimate fate of nitrogen in the marine environment, the impact of climate change on benthic-pelagic coupling, silica cycling in salt marshes and estuaries, and greenhouse gas production in a variety of coastal environments.

Courses Taught

• ES 144 Introduction to Oceanography
• ES/BI 423/623 Marine Biogeochemistry
  
• ES/BI 558 Coastal Biogeochemistry
  
• ES 834 Advanced Topics in (Bio)Geochemical Cycles

Selected Publications

• Carey J, Fulweiler RW. (2012). Human activities directly alter watershed dissolved silica fluxes. Biogeochemistry: (In Press) DOI 10.1007/s10533-011-9671-2.
• Heiss EM, Fields L, Fulweiler RW. (2012). Directly Measured Net Denitrification Rates in Offshore New England. Continental Shelf Research 45: 78-86.
• Vieillard A, Fulweiler RW, Hughes Z. (2011). The Ebb and Flood of Silica: Quantifying Dissolved and Biogenic Silica Fluxes from a Temperate Salt Marsh. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 95 (4): 415-423.
• Fulweiler RW, Heiss EM, Emery H, Berounsky V. (2011). Assessing the Role of pH in Determining Water Column Nitrification Rates in a Coastal System. (In Press, Estuaries and Coasts).DOI: 10.1007/s12237-011-9432-4.
• Fulweiler RW. (2009). Fantastic Fixers. Science 326: 377-378. (Invited).
• White J, Fulweiler RW, Li C, Bargu S, Walker N, Twilley R, Green S. (2009). Mississippi River Flood of 2008 -Observations of a Large Freshwater Diversion on Physical, Chemical and Biological Characteristics of a Shallow, Estuarine Lake. Environment, Science, and Technology 43: 5599-5604.
• Fulweiler RW, Nixon SW, Buckley BA, Granger SL. (2008). Net Sediment N2 Fluxes in a Coastal Marine System – Experimental manipulations and a Conceptual Model. Ecosystems 11: 1168-1180.
• Fulweiler RW, Nixon SW, Buckley BA, Granger SL. (2007). Reversal of the net nitrogen flux in coastal marine sediments. Nature 448: 180-182.