Wildfire activity in the western U.S. has increased in frequency and severity throughout the past decades. These fires impact the physical, biological, and chemical characteristics of soils. Specifically, fire exposure can alter the composition of soil organic matter (SOM) which serves as important nutrients for microbes and vegetation. Here, we study how fires change SOM to determine what nutrients are available after fires to foster revegetation and microbial regrowth within burned forests. We conduct research across a wide range of scales (i.e. from controlled laboratory burns to full-scale field work) and assess changes in SOM using a fleet of instrumentation such as gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Structural Fires at the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI): Emission Factors Inventories and Implications is a joint project between the CSU Mechanical Engineering Department and the Borch Lab. Our goal is to create a database of anthropogenic material emissions commonly found at the WUI interface, which we will use advanced analytical chemistry techniques to characterize and classify. Essentially, we ask, “What emissions are released from burning a couch? A Tesla? A motorhome?”

Wildfire regimes are changing, resulting in more WUI fires and the loss of homes and businesses. Understanding these sources of novel atmospheric pollution emissions is a critical knowledge gap. We hypothesize that these contaminants play a sizable role in atmospheric pollution from WUI wildfire burning, which can have adverse human health effects.

Our group uses advanced analytical chemistry techniques to approach, characterize and classify these (sometimes novel) chemical compounds. Some of the instruments that we use include IC, HR-GC/HR-MS, Triple Quad MS, HPLC, GC-MS, and 21 T FTICR-MS, in targeted and non-targeted analyses. With this data, we will publish databases of chemicals from emissions to better track, understand, and prevent atmospheric pollution and inform the environment and public health.