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Profile

Markus Flury

Markus Flury

Professor, Crop and Soil Sciences 253-445-4522 Kalkus Hall 330B, Puyallup 2606 West Pioneer
  • 1997–present: Professor of Soil Physics/Vadose Zone Hydrology, Washington State University
  • 2005/2006: Visiting Professor (Sabbatical): Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH) and Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Science, Nanjing
  • 1994–1996: Post-Doctoral Research Associate, University of California, Riverside, CA

Education

  • 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

Google Scholar

  • Tao, Z., M. Flury, Y. Xu, Y. Yu, R. Bol, H. Du, J. Wang, J. Ding, D. L. Jones, D. R. Chadwick, and F. Ding, Mineralization and transfer of polymer-derived carbon from biodegradable mulch into the soil microbial biomass and organic matter pool, Environ. Sci. Technol., 59, 25830–25841, doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5c06151, 2025.
  • Dai, J., C. Hu, M. Flury, Y. Huang, M. Rillig, D. Jones, D. Ji, J. Peng, J. Fei, Q. Huang, J. Wang, and F. Ding, National inventory of plastic mulch residues in Chinese croplands from 1990 to 2050, Global Change Biol., 31, e70297, doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70297, 2025.
  • Adhikari, K., K. A. Sanguinet, C. I. Pearce, and M. Flury, Uptake of polystyrene nanospheres by wheat and Arabidopsis roots in agar, hydroponics, and soil, Environ. Sci.: Nano, 12, 1685–1696, 2025. (doi.org/10.1039/d4en01182a)
  • Stewart, R. D., M. Flury, H. Ajami, R. G. Anderson, T. R. Green, Y. Jin, A. Patrignani, R. Shillito, W. Zhang, M. R. A. Najm, E. Babaeian, M. Berli, E. N. J. Brookshire, A. L. M. Daigh, S. Franklin, J. Giovando, R. Heinse, J. Heitman, J. Huang, T. Kelleners, M. Naseri, T. E. Ochsner, J. Radolinski, M. Sadeghi, S. Sasidharan, M. K. Shukla, M. Tuller, O. Wendroth, J. Wu, B. M. Wyatt, Y. Yang, Y. Yu, and F. Zhang, Emerging issues and research opportunities in vadose zone processes, Vadose Zone J., 24, e70030, doi.org/10.1002/vzj2.70030, 2025.
  • Wang, K., M. Flury, S. Sun, J. Cai, A. Zhang, Q. Li, and R. Jiang, In-field degradation of polybutylene adipate-co-terephthalate (PBAT) films, microplastic formation, and impacts on soil health, Environ. Res., 272, 121086, doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2025.121086, 2025.
  • Wang, K., M. Flury, Y. Kuzyakov, H. Zhang, W. Zhu, and R. Jiang, Aluminum and microplastic release from reflective agricultural films disrupt microbial communities and functions in soil, J. Hazard. Mat., 491, 137891, doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2025.137891, 2025.
  • Dong, Y., L. Ren, X. Jia, L. Huang, X. Zhang, M. Flury, and L. Xu, Microplastics decrease soil compressibility but have no major impact on soil physical properties, Soil Till. Res., 253, 106688, doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2025.106688, 2025.
  • Singh, N., M. Flury, H. Neely, A. Bary, I. Akin, and G. T. LaHue, Compaction vulnerability of a sandy loam soil not impacted by long-term biosolids application, Soil Till. Res., 253, 106648, doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2025.106648, 2025.
  • Shokri, N., M. Aminzadeh, M. Flury, Y. Jin, M. A. Matin, P. Panagos, B. S. Razavi, D. A. Robinson, P. Smith, K. Todd-Brown, G. Toth, A. Zarei, and K. Madani, Sustainability Nexus AID: Soil Health, Sustainability Nexus Forum, 33, 3, doi.org/10.1007/s00550-025-00560-6, 2025.

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