Robert Rhew
Associate Professor
Ph.D. 2001 Geochemistry, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD
Although trace gases constitute less than 1% of the composition of the atmosphere, they are compounds that regulate the Earth’s greenhouse effect, the balance of stratospheric ozone, and most of the chemical reactions in the atmosphere. In our trace gas biogeochemistry lab, we seek to quantify the biosphere-atmosphere exchange of environmentally important trace gases and to identify the physical and biological controls on those fluxes. We conduct our work in a wide range of natural and human-dominated ecosystems, including Arctic tundra, temperate grasslands, salt-affected lands, arid and semi-arid shrublands, boreal forest, temperate forest, and tropical ecosystems. This work will help to quantify globally significant sources and sinks, to assess the atmospheric lifetimes of these compounds (how long these compounds persist in the atmosphere), and to elucidate key biogeochemical processes that occur in nature.
We focus on halogen, sulfur, and carbon containing compounds that catalyze ozone destruction; influence the radiative energy balance of the planet; and/or act as proxies or byproducts of important ecosystem processes. This work is very interdisciplinary, involving the tools of analytical and atmospheric chemistry, soil geochemistry and microbiology, plant biology and genetics, ecosystem ecology and physical geography. Consequently, our laboratory invites the participation of students from a wide variety of backgrounds.
Selected publications
O. Mazéas, J.C. von Fischer and R.C. Rhew, Impact of terrestrial carbon input on methane emissions from an Alaskan Arctic lake, Geophysical Research Letters, 36, L18501, doi:10.1029/ 2009GL039861 (2009).
Teh, Y.A., O. Mazéas, A. Atwood, T. Abel and R.C. Rhew, Hydrologic regulation of methyl chloride and methyl bromide fluxes in Alaskan Arctic tundra. Global Change Biology, Vol 15, Issue 2, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2008.01749.x (2009).
Rhew, R.C., Y.A. Teh, T. Abel, A. Atwood and O. Mazéas, Chloroform emissions from the Alaskan Arctic tundra, Geophysical Research Letters, 35, L21811, doi:10.1029/2008GL035762 (2008).
Rhew, R.C., B.R. Miller, and R.F. Weiss, Chloroform, carbon tetrachloride and methyl chloroform fluxes in southern California ecosystems, Atmospheric Environment, doi: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2008/05/038 (2008).
Teh, Y.A., Rhew, R.C., Atwood, A.R., and T. Abel, Water, temperature, and vegetation regulation of methyl chloride and methyl bromide fluxes from a shortgrass steppe ecosystem. Global Change Biology 14, p. 77-91, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2007.01480.x (2008).
Rhew, R. C. and T. Abel. Measuring simultaneous production and consumption fluxes of methyl chloride and methyl bromide in annual temperate grasslands. Environmental Science & Technology, 41, p. 7837-7843, doi: 10.1021/es0711011 (2007).
Rhew, R. C., Y. A. Teh, and T. Abel, Methyl halide and methane fluxes in the northern Alaskan coastal tundra, Journal of Geophysical Research, 112, G02009, doi:10.1029/2006JG000314 (2007).
Rhew, R. C., L. Østergaard, E. S. Saltzman, and M. F. Yanofsky, Genetic control of methyl halide production in Arabidopsis, Current Biology, Vol. 13, 1809-1813 (2003).
Rhew, R.C., M. Aydin, and E.S. Saltzman, Measuring terrestrial fluxes of methyl chloride and methyl bromide using a stable isotope tracer technique, Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 30, no. 21, 2103, doi: 10.1029/2003GL018160, (Nov. 7, 2003)..
Rhew, R. C., B. R. Miller, M. Bill, A. H. Goldstein, and R. F. Weiss, Environmental and biological controls on methyl halide emissions from southern California coastal salt marshes, Biogeochemistry, Vol. 60, 141-161 (2002).
Bill, M., R. C. Rhew, R. F. Weiss, and A. H. Goldstein, Carbon isotopic ratios of methyl bromide and methyl chloride emitted from a coastal salt marsh, Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 29 (4), 10.1029/2001GL012946 (2002).
Rhew, R. C., B. R. Miller, M. K. Vollmer, and R. F. Weiss, Shrubland fluxes of methyl bromide and methyl chloride, Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 106, 20,875-20,882 (2001).
Rhew, R. C., B. R. Miller, and R. F. Weiss, Natural methyl bromide and methyl chloride emissions from coastal salt marshes, Nature, Vol. 403, 292-295 (2000).
Personal interests
National Association of Geoscience Teachers website
University of California Natural Reserves System website