Markus Flury
Professor, Crop and Soil Sciences flury@wsu.edu 253-445-4522 Kalkus Hall 330B, Puyallup 2606 West PioneerEducation
M.S. University of Zurich, Switzerland, 1989
Ph.D. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH, 1993
Research
My principal research interest is in the area of flow and transport in porous media, particularly in the vadose zone. Specific areas include: (1) Colloids and nanoparticles in the environment; (2) characterization of water flow and solute transport in the vadose zone, (2) colloid and colloid-facilitated contaminant transport through the vadose zone, (3) soil physical instrumentation and their applications, (4) sustainable use of soil resources.
In the past years my group has focused on fate and transport of radionuclides in the subsurface, with special emphasis on clean-up of nuclear waste at the Hanford Reservation in Washington State. Recently, we have started to work on micro- and nanoplastics in terrestrial systems, focusing on extraction methods for biosolids and soils, accumulation in and transport through soil, and biodegradable plastics as alternative for polyethylene plastic mulch films.
Learn about research on the fate and transport of contaminants in the subsurface here.
Learn about vadose zone hydrology research at WSU here.
See the Soil Physics/Vadose Zone Hydrology Group Members here.
Publications
Yu, Y., O. Qafoku, L. Kovarik, A. F. Astner, D. G. Hayes, and M. Flury, Mobility of biodegradable nanoplastics in unsaturated porous media affected by protein-corona, Environ. Sci.: Nano, 11, 3522– 3532, 2024. (doi.org/10.1039/d4en00140k)
Yu, Y., and M. Flury, Unlocking the potentials of biodegradable plastics with proper manage- ment and evaluation at environmentally relevant concentrations, npj Materials Sustainability, 2, 9, doi.org/10.1038/s44296-024-00012-0, 2024.
Yu, Y., M. Velandia, D. G. Hayes, L. W. DeVetter, C. A. Miles, and M. Flury, Biodegrad- able plastics as alternatives for polyethylene mulch films, Adv. Agron., 183, 121–192, 2024. (doi.org/10.1016/bs.agron.2023.10.003)
Adhikari, K., C. I. Pearce, K. A. Sanguinet, A. I. Bary, I. Chowdhury, I. Eggleston, B. Xing, and M. Flury, Accumulation of microplastics in soil after long-term application of biosolids and atmospheric deposition, Sci. Total Environ., 912, 168883, doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.168883, 2024.
Wang, K., W. Min, M. Flury, A. Gunina, J. Lv, Q. Li, and R. Jiang, Impact of long-term conventional and biodegradable film mulching on microplastic abundance, soil structure and organic carbon in a cotton field, Environ. Pollut., 356, 124367, doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2024.124367, 2024.
Wang, Y., Y. Yin, S. Joseph, M. Flury, X. Wang, S. Tahery, B. Li, and J. Shang, Stabilization of organic carbon in top- and subsoil by biochar application into calcareous farmland, Sci. Total Environ., 907, 168046, doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.168046, 2024.