Baltimore Ecosystem Study I began working in the Baltimore Ecosystem Study while conducting my dissertation research on historic land use change in the Baltimore region and the impacts on fluvial systems and trace metal cycling. My research will continue in Baltimore, particularly using the baseline land use database I developed to inform other work, including urban fluvial systems, understanding Baltimore's industrial past, and understanding the associated environmental legacy. In addition, we are very excited at the prospects of examining Pittsburgh and Baltimore as a comparative set to understand a wide variety of environmental systems. Selected Publications: Bain, D. J., and G. S. Brush. 2004. Placing the pieces: Reconstructing the original property mosaic in a warrant and patent watershed. Landscape Ecology 19:843-856. Bain, D. J., and G. S. Brush. 2005. Early chromite mining and agricultural clearance: Opportunities for the investigation of agricultural sediment dynamics in the Eastern Piedmont (USA). American Journal of Science 305:957-981. Groffman, P. M., D. J. Bain, L. E. Band, K. T. Belt, G. S. Brush, J. M. Grove, R. V. Pouyat, I. C. Yesilonis, and W. C. Zipperer. 2003. Down by the riverside: urban riparian ecology. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 1:315-321. Bain, D. J., and G. S. Brush. 2008. Gradients, Property Templates, and Land Use Change. Professional Geographer 60(2) Nine Mile Run Pittsburgh is a national leader in urban stream restoration with the nationally renowned Nine Mile Run stream restoration in Frick Park. Nine Mile Run is one of the few streams in the City of Pittsburgh not completely buried as part of the sewer network. It does contain significant combined sewer outfall problems and the lower third was the used as a slag dump for decades. A large scale restoration of the stream channel and valley bottom was recently completed. We will be examining the restoration as it evolves. This project has just begun, however, you can learn more here: Nine Mile Run Watershed Association Nine Mile Run Project at the STUDIO for Creative Inquiry The ability to measure the stable isotopic composition of environmental samples has transformed biogeochemistry, allowing additional insight into source and process. The recent advances in measurement of non-traditional stable isotopes should allow a similar transformation in our understanding of metal cycling in the environment. During my postdoc at the US Geological Society, I examined the isotopic systematics of chromium (Cr) during oxidation by manganese oxides. This system is important for understanding human and ecosystem exposure to the toxic hexavalent Cr species, as exposure can be confounded by rapid reduction of environmental hexavalent Cr. Ultimately, Cr isotopic compositions may allow us to identify trivalent Cr that has been hexavalent further up the hydrologic flow path. Work on Cr and other metals with stable isotopes will continue and grow, particularly with Pitt's strong instrumentation resources. Presentations: Bain, D.J. and T.D. Bullen (2005). "Chromium isotope fractionation during oxidation of Cr(III) by manganese oxides." Geochimica Et Cosmochimica Acta 69(10): A212-A212. Wilder Ranch The marine terraces along the central California coast are not only spectacular geomorphologically, but they are also a perfect location for a soil chronosequence. The US Geological Survey has established a soil water chemistry chronosequence on the terraces and extensively characterized the soil chemisty, hydrology, and weathering rates at the terraces. I worked as a post-doc with Suzanne Anderson (UC-Boulder) and the USGS characterizing the chemistry of the surface waters. This is being used to enhance our understanding of terrace hydrology and refine estimates of basin scale weathering based on inversions of stream water chemistry. Presentations: Bain, D.J., S.P. Anderson, T.D. Bullen, J. Fitzpatrick, M.S. Schulz, D.V. Vivit, A.F. White, 2004. Surface Water Dissolved Loads and Soil Chemical Weathering Rates: Results from the Santa Cruz Terraces. 2004 GSA Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, November 7, 2004. Bain, D.J., S.P. Anderson, T.D. Bullen, J. Fitzpatrick, M.S. Schulz, D.V. Vivit, A.F. White, 2005. Lithogenic vs Biogenic Stream Water Chemistry: Following the Solute Flush. Eos Trans. AGU 86(52), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract H22B-06