at the intersection of plants and the air we breathe
Hi, I’m Mj Riches.
I’m an Postdoctoral Fellow working in the Nachappa Lab at Colorado State University.
I chose my undergrad majors out of a hat (biology & chemistry, I still have the hat), then wandered into grad school and found my passion for biosphere-atmosphere research. My entire research life can be described as something going wrong or something weird happening and getting a cool story out of it.
Here you can find those stories.
Research Interests
How does environmental stress impact chemical emissions (especially monoterpenes- the good smelling ones!) and photosynthesis of plants?
For a general overview of my interests, check out my co-authored article in Accounts of Chemical Research.
wildfire smoke
During FluCS (Flux Closure Study) in 2020 and 2021, our field site was swamped with wildfire smoke from the West Coast and elsewhere in Colorado. We took this opportunity to investigate how wildfire smoke chokes trees, decreasing their photosynthesis and chemical emissions. We forced photosynthesis and saw a dynamic change in emissions!
Read the academic article in Geophysical Research Letters (2024), or a synopsis on The Conversation, Scientific American, or Discover Magazine.
solar induced fluorescence
Satellite-measured solar induced fluorescence can be used as a proxy for plant productivity across various climates and plant types. Curious how it holds up for a certain climate or vegetation? Check out the interactive application developed by Luka Mamić (Sapienza University of Rome) and read the paper in Remote Sensing Applications: Society and Environment (2025).
corpse flower emissions
Corpse flowers are known for their putrid stench… But what makes them so smelly? The female flowers do most of the work! We had only days to get as much data as we could- dive into the science in our article in Geophysical Research Letters (2025).
Fancy a look without the jargon? We have a short article in The Conversation.
snow-induced senescence
What happens to photosynthesis and emissions during a season change? Another accidental campaign led to the investigation of senescence on Tulip trees following the first seasonal snow. Read the article in Geophysical Research Letters (2022).
method development
Coupling a portable photosynthesis system to an online chemical ionization mass spectrometer and offline thermal desorption sampling.
Development of a sampling protocol for collecting leaf surface material for multiphase chemistry studies.
Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts (2024)
Co-PI with Dr. Rachele Ossola