Research

Water quality, noble gases, and elemental cycles

Research Overview

The Wen Research Group studies how water, elements, and gases move through natural and human-altered landscapes. Our research focuses on water quality, noble gas geochemistry, and water and elemental cycles.

For details about current and upcoming projects, contact Prof. Wen.

Thematic illustration of research projects in the WEN Research Group
Figure 1: Thematic illustration of research projects in the WEN Research Group.

Illustrated by MENG GRAPHICS LLC. Copyright © 2024 Tao Wen. All Rights Reserved.

Research Themes

Water Quality in Human-Impacted Systems

We investigate how energy development, urbanization, land use, and legacy infrastructure affect surface water and groundwater chemistry.

Related study: Radium in shallow aquifers near oil and gas operations (2026).

Noble Gases in Earth Systems

We use noble gases as tracers and dating tools for fluids, rocks, groundwater, and natural gas systems.

Related study: Tectonic control on mantle-source helium migration at the southeastern Tibetan Plateau margin (2026).

Global Water and Elemental Cycles

We assess water and elemental fluxes from terrestrial water systems using geochemical observations, hydrological modeling, Earth system perspectives, and data-driven methods.

Related study: Predicting salinity and alkalinity fluxes of U.S. freshwater in a changing climate (2025).

Methods and Open Resources

We combine field observations and laboratory geochemistry with environmental data science, geospatial analysis, and machine learning. We also develop open datasets, software, and teaching materials.

Open Data Projects

Facilities

Geochemical Instrumentation

WEN Group laboratory resources support water chemistry, stable isotope, and noble gas research. Major instruments include:

  • Thermo Fisher Helix SFT and Argus VI mass spectrometers
  • Perkin Elmer Avio 200 Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES)
  • Picarro L2130-i Water Isotope Analyzer with autosampler
  • Milli-Q IQ 7005 Ultrapure Water System

The group also works with complementary facilities in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Syracuse University core laboratories, and neighboring SUNY ESF analytical resources.

Research Computing Resources

The group uses dedicated workstations and Syracuse University research computing resources for geospatial analysis, machine learning, hydrologic modeling, and large environmental datasets.