Creative Research Medal 2025

Krista Capps, associate professor in the Odum School of Ecology and the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, has led groundbreaking research on global carbon cycling in rivers. As part of a landmark study published in Science, Capps and colleagues conducted an experiment across 514 streams on six continents to measure organic matter decomposition. The team used a standardized assay to assess microbial activity, generating the first global-scale model of riverine carbon breakdown and identifying key environmental drivers. This research showed that accelerated decomposition rates were linked to regions dominated by human activities, such as urbanization and agriculture, potentially altering aquatic food webs and increasing carbon release into the atmosphere. Capps and co-authors used machine learning to develop a model explaining 70% of the variance in prior decomposition rates and created a predictive tool for environmental forecasting. A recipient of the NSF CAREER Award, she continues to advance freshwater ecology with globally impactful research on ecosystem resilience.