- Phone:
- (812) 855-0971
- Email:
- troyer@iu.edu
- Areas of Interest:
- Aquatic biogeochemistry
- Water resources
- Nutrient and carbon cycling in streams and rivers
- Water quality and nutrient standards
SPEA 300F
Education
- Ph.D., Biology, Idaho State University, 1999
- M.S., Biology, Idaho State University, 1995
- B.S., Animal Ecology, Iowa State University, 1992
Biography
Dr. Todd V. Royer is a professor and the Executive Associate Dean in the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs.
In his role as Executive Associate Dean, Royer is responsible for the school’s budget, academic programs, research activity, and faculty affairs. He works closely with a team of five assistant and associate deans, who have responsibility for selected areas. Directors of the finance office, marketing and communications office, and the school’s director of strategic initiatives report to the Executive Associate Dean. Royer also works with the school’s development team and with the Dean to set goals and priorities for philanthropy and help steward potential donors.
Royer is an aquatic biogeochemist with a particular focus on nitrogen, phosphorus, organic carbon, and land use activities that impact water quality. His research investigates the ecological and biogeochemical processes that affect water quality in streams and rivers and much of his work is conducted in agricultural landscapes where non-point sources of nutrients and other pollutants are a threat to water quality and ecological health.
Royer served as a member of the Science Assessment Team for the Indiana Nutrient Reduction Strategy, chaired the Nutrient Science Advisory Committee for the state of Illinois, and was a member of the Aquatic Technical Working Group for the National Ecological Observatory Network. He is a long-time member of the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) and the Society for Freshwater Science (SFS), where he served as vice president from 2018-19 and as interim Editor-in-Chief of the society’s journal, Freshwater Science during 2023-2024.
Highlights
- Faculty Chair for Environmental Science (2019-2024)
- Vice President, Society for Freshwater Science (2018-19)
Selected Works
- Wang X., Barnes M.L., Yoder L., Williams C., Tank J., Royer T., Suttles S., Novick K.A., “The potential for albedo-induced climate mitigation using no-till management in midwestern U.S. croplands”, Communications Earth & Environment, Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02549-x (2025).
- Sethna L.R., Rasnake L.M., Powers S.R., Plechaty Z.I., Pouchak A.H., Hobbs W.O., Royer T.V., “Dynamics of dissolved silicon in a large mesotrophic reservoir in south-central Indiana, U.S.A.”, Frontiers in Environmental Science, Frontiers. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2025.1656708 (2025).
- Barnes M.L., Suttles S., Carman‐Sweeney E., Houser M., Irvine R., Mooney S., Novick K.A., Pruitt A.N., Royer T.V., Seibert K.S., Tank J.L., Wang X., Yoder L., “Cover Crops as Nature-Based Climate Solutions in the Midwestern US: Potential Benefits, Knowledge Gaps, and Opportunities for Transdisciplinary Work”, Earth's Future, American Geophysical Union (AGU). https://doi.org/10.1029/2024ef005691 (2025).
- “Time to amend the US Clean Water Act,”Science, 372 (6548) 1272 (2021)
- “The case for studying highly modified agricultural streams: farming for biogeochemical insights,” (with J.L. Tank, S.L. Speir, and L.R. Sethna), Limnology and Oceanography Bulletin, May: 41-47 (2021)
- “Stoichiometry of nitrogen, phosphorus, and silica loads in the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River basin reveals spatial and temporal patterns in risk for cyanobacterial blooms,”Limnology and Oceanography, 65: 325-335 (2020)
- “Human-dominated rivers and river management in the Anthropocene,” Stream Ecosystems in a Changing Environment (ed. J. Jones and E. Stanley), Academic Press, (2016)
- Persistent, Bioaccumulative, and Toxic (PBT) Chemicals: Technical Aspects, Policies, and Practices, (with A.D.K. Abelkop and J.D. Graham) CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida (2015)
- "Dissolved organic carbon manipulation reveals coupled cycling of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in a nitrogen-rich stream," (with L.T. Johnson and D. Oviedo-Vargas), Limnology and Oceanography, 58(4): 1196-1206 (2013)
- "Manipulation of the dissolved organic carbon pool in an agricultural stream: responses in microbial community structure, denitrification, and assimilatory nitrogen uptake," (with J.M. Edgerton, L.T. Johnson, and L.G. Leff), Ecosystems, 15: 1027-1038 (2012)
- "Pharmaceutical compounds and ecosystem function: an emerging research challenge for aquatic ecologists," (with E. J. Rosi-Marshall), Ecosystems, 15: 867-880 (2012)
- "Timing of riverine export of nitrate and phosphorus from agricultural watersheds in Illinois: implications for reducing nutrient loading to the Mississippi River," (with M. B. David and L. E. Gentry), Environmental Science & Technology, 40: 4126–4131 (2006)