K.S. Rocci, M.F. Cotrufo, J. Ernakovich, E. Foster, S. Frey, K. Georgiou, A.S. Grandy, A. Malhotra, P.B. Reich, E.P. Schlerman, W.R. Wieder. 2024. Bridging 20 years of soil organic matter frameworks: empirical support, model representation, and next steps. Journal of Geophysical Research – Biogeosciences 129, 6. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023JG007964

W. R. Wieder, M. D. Hartman, E. Kyker-Snowman, B. Eastman, K. Georgiou, D. Pierson, K. S. Rocci, A. S. Grandy. 2024. Simulating global terrestrial carbon-nitrogen biogeochemical cycles with implicit and explicit representations of soil microbial activity. Journal of Advances in Modelling Earth Systems. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023MS004156

K.S. Rocci, C. C. Cleveland, B. A. Eastman, K. Georgiou, A.S. Grandy, M.D. Hartman, E. Hauser, H. Holland-Moritz, E. Kyker-Snowman, D. Pierson, P.B. Reich, E.P. Schlerman, W.R. Wieder. 2023. Aligning theoretical and empirical representations of soil carbon-to-nitrogen stoichiometry with process-based terrestrial biogeochemistry models. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2023.109272 

K.S. Rocci, M.F. Cotrufo, J.S. Baron. 2023. Proximity to roads does not modify inorganic nitrogen deposition in a topographically complex, high traffic, subalpine forest. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, 234, 761. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-023-06762-2 

K.S. Rocci, M. Bird, J.M. Blair, A.K. Knapp, C. Liang, M.F. Cotrufo, 2023. Thirty years of increased precipitation modifies soil organic matter fractions but not bulk soil carbon and nitrogen in a mesic grassland. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 185, 109145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2023.109145  

B. Tang, K.S. Rocci, A. Lehmann, M.C. Rillig. 2023. Nitrogen increases soil organic carbon accrual and alters its functionality. Global Change Biology, 29, 7, 1971-1983. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16588 

K. S. Rocci, E. W. Seabloom, E.T. Borer, S. E. Hobbie, K. S. Barker, A. S. MacDougall, R. L. McCulley, C. J. Stevens, X. Raynaud, J.L. Moore, J. D. Bakker, M. F. Cotrufo. 2022. Impacts of nutrient addition on soil carbon and nitrogen stoichiometry and stability in globally-distributed grasslands. Biogeochemistry. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-022-00932-w 

K. E. O. Todd-Brown… K. S. Rocci… M. L. Younger. 2022. Review and Synthesis: The promise of big soil data, moving current practices towards future potential. Biogeosciences, 19, 3505–3522, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-3505-2022 

K. S. Rocci, J. M. Lavallee, C. E. Stewart, M. F. Cotrufo. 2021. Soil organic carbon response to global environmental change depends on its distribution between mineral-associated and particulate organic matter: A meta-analysis. Science of The Total Environment, 793. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148569. 

K.S. Rocci, S.J. Fonte, J.C. von Fischer, M.F. Cotrufo. 2019. Nitrogen Dynamics in an Established Alfalfa Field under Low Biochar Application Rates. Soil Systems, 3(4), 77. https://doi.org/10.3390/soilsystems3040077

E.J.T. Levin, P.J. DeMott, K.J. Suski, Y. Boose, T.C.J. Hill, C.S. McCluskey, G.P. Schill, K. Rocci, H. Al‐Mashat, L.J. Kristensen, G. Cornwell, K. Prather, J. Tomlinson, F. Mei, J. Hubbe, M. Pekour, R. Sullivan, L.R. Leung, S.M. Kreidenweis. 2019. Characteristics of ice nucleating particles in and around California winter storms. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

P. J. DeMott, T. C. J. Hill, M. D. Petters, A. K. Bertram, Y. Tobo, R. H. Mason, K. J. Suski, C. S. McCluskey, E. J. T. Levin, G. P. Schill, Y. Boose, A. M. Rauker, A. J. Miller, J. Zaragoza, K. Rocci, N. E. Rothfuss, H. P. Taylor, J. D. Hader, C. Chou, J. A. Huffman, U. Pöschl, A. J. Prenni, and S. M. Kreidenweis (2017) Comparative measurements of ambient atmospheric concentrations of ice nucleating particles using multiple immersion freezing methods and a continuous flow diffusion chamber. Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 11227-11245.

Solicited 

Rocci, K. S., D. Pierson, F. Jevon, A. Polussa, A. Oliverio, M. Bradford, P. Reich, W. Wieder. Calibrating a soil biogeochemistry model to empirical drivers of litter decomposition identifies uncertainties in translating empirical microbial community data to ecosystem-scale models. Upcoming oral presentation at: American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting.

Rocci, K. S., A. S. Grandy, K. Georgiou, E.P. Schlerman, C. C. Cleveland, M. F. Cotrufo, B.A. Eastman, J. Ernakovich, E. Foster, S. Frey, M. D. Hartman, E. Hauser, H. Holland-Moritz, E. Kyker-Snowman, D. Pierson, A. Malhotra, P. B. Reich, W. R. Wieder. Evaluating representations of mineral-associated organic matter carbon and nitrogen dynamics in soil biogeochemistry models. Upcoming oral presentation at: Tri-Societies (Soil Science Society of America) Annual Meeting.

Rocci, K. S. and M.F. Cotrufo. Soil carbon and nitrogen responses to global change are informed by soil organic matter fractions. Oral presentation at: European Geophysical Union, 2023 April 24-28; Vienna, Austria

Other presentations

Rocci, K. S., M.I. Bird, J. M. Blair, A.K. Knapp, C. Liang, and M. F. Cotrufo. Soil organic matter as modified by thirty years of increased precipitation at a tallgrass prairie. Oral and poster presentations at: American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, 2022 December 12-16; Chicago, IL & Soil Ecology Society, 2022 May 17-19; Richland, WA.

Rocci, K. S., K. S. Barker, J. M. Lavallee, C. E. Stewart, E. W. Seabloom, E. T. Borer, S. E. Hobbie, J. D. Bakker, A. S. MacDougall, R. L. McCulley, J. L. Moore, X. Raynaud, C. J. Stevens, M. F. Cotrufo. Soil organic carbon response to global environmental change is informed by mineral-associated and particulate organic matter. Oral and poster presentations  at: American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, 2021 December 13-17; New Orleans, LA & Ecological Society of America, 2020 August 3-6; Virtual.

Rocci, K. S., J. Lavallee, and M.F. Cotrufo. Soil organic carbon response to climate warming depends on its distribution between particulate and mineral-associated organic matter pools. Oral presentation at: American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, 2020 December 1-17; Virtual.

Rocci, K. S., J. Lavallee, and M.F. Cotrufo. Not all soil carbon is made equal: mineral associated and particulate organic matter carbon respond differently to global environmental change. Oral presentation at: Graduate Climate Conference, 2020 Oct 30-Nov 1; Virtual.

Rocci, K. S., J. Lavallee, and M.F. Cotrufo.  Can soil carbon be a climate solution when it is threatened by warming? Oral presentation at: CSU Speaks (a community outreach event), 2020 October 23; Virtual.

Rocci, K. S., S. Fonte, and M.F. Cotrufo. Can biochar-plant interactions alter the fate of fertilizer nitrogen to create a more sustainable agricultural system? Oral presentation at: SSSA International Soils Meeting; 2019 Jan 6-9; San Diego, CA.

I have procured over $173,000 towards my research and scholarship. Find selected fellowships and awards below:

National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow ($138,000) / September 2019 - September 2022

CSU SoGES Sustainability Leadership Fellow / August 2021 – May 2022

PEO Scholar, PEO International ($20000) / 2021-2022

Best Poster, Ecological Society of America  ($1200) / 2020 Meeting

GDPE Small Grant Awardee ($3000) / April 2021

Vice President for Research Fellow, CSU Office of the Vice President for Research ($4000) / March 2021

Warner College Outstanding Teaching Assistant ($500) / 2019-2020

Second Place, Graduate Student Oral, Front Range Student Ecology Symposium/ February 2019

RMAIS Fellow & GDPE Small Grant Awardee ($2400) / Summer 2018