Curtis J. Richardson

Bio and Research:

Curtis J. Richardson is Professor of Resource Ecology and Director of the Duke University Wetland Center in the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences. Dr. Richardson earned his degrees from the State University of New York and the University of Tennessee. His research interests in applied ecology are centered on long-term wetland ecosystem response to large-scale perturbations such as drainage, toxic materials or nutrient additions. His main interests are in phosphorus nutrient dynamics in wetlands, the effects of environmental stress on plant metabolism and growth response, and wetland restoration. As Director of the Wetland Center since its inception in 1989, Dr. Richardson conducted a $12 million research effort on the ecological basis for a phosphorus threshold in the Everglades and sustaining ecosystem structure and function. Additional research addressed the concept of differential nutrient limitation (DNL) as a mechanism to overcome N or P limitations across trophic levels. Current research in his lab focuses on: (1) wetland restoration and its effects on regional water quality and nutrient biogeochemical cycles in the Mesopotamian marshes of Iraq, (2) development of ecosystem metrics as indices of wetland restoration success, (3) the effects of agricultural runoff and hydrologic alterations on Everglades nutrient cycling and storage, (4) the development of ecological thresholds along environmental gradients, (5) the role of wetlands in carbon sequestration and cycling, and (6) The development of an outdoor wetland research and teaching laboratory on Duke Forest. Dr. Richardson has been listed in Who's™ Who in Science annually since 1989 and was elected President of the Society of Wetland Scientists in 1987-88. He has served on many editorial review committees for peer-reviewed scientific journals, and he is a past Chair of the Nicholas School Division of Environmental Sciences and Policy. Dr. Richardson is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Society of Wetland Scientists, and the Soil Science Society of America.