Townsend-Small's dissertation research focused on examining the
particulate organic matter (POM) carried downstream by rivers from the
Andes Mountains in
Peru to the
Amazon River, paying special attention to the elemental and isotopic compositions of
carbon and
nitrogen in the POM. In 2007, Townsend-Small began working as a Postdoctoral Scholar and Project Scientist in the Department of Earth System Science at the
University of California Irvine, where she conducted research regarding urban
greenhouse gas and water budgets in
Los Angeles,
California. Since 2010, Townsend-Small has been at the
University of Cincinnati, where she is now an associate professor in the Department of Geology and Geography as well as the director of the Environmental Studies Program.
Awards and honors In 2010, Townsend-Small led a research project known as UC GRO (Groundwater Research of Ohio), run by the
University of Cincinnati. The study involved testing samples of groundwater from eastern
Ohio for dissolved
methane concentrations in order to determine the relationship between contaminated groundwater and the process of
hydraulic fracturing (fracking) for
natural gas. In praise of the project's innovative and unique groundwater analysis techniques, the
Ohio Environmental Council (OEC) awarded Townsend-Small the Science and Community Award in 2014. == References ==