Research Interests
Biogeochemistry; Geoscience Education/Geocognition; Environmental Geochemistry

Current Research Projects
In-situ Measurements of Microbial Volatile Organic Compound Production in Mississippi Pine Forest Soils

Facilitating Student Understanding of Change in the Earth System on Multiple Time Scales

Modeling Mobile Bay Sediments and Pollutants with New Technologies

GK12: Initiating New Science Partnerships in Rural Education (INSPIRE)

Analysis of the Combined Impacts of Climate Change on the Mobile Bay Watershed and Mobile Bay, Alabama

REU Site: Field Research on Bahamian Lakes - Exploring Records of Anthropogenic and Climate Change

Most Current Publications:
Sherman-Morris K., Clary R., McNeal K.S., and Gillham D. 2008. Web-Design Activities to Support Geoscience Teacher Development. Journal of Geoscience Education: in review.

McNeal K.S. and Herbert B.E. 2008. Volatile organic metabolites as indicators of microbial community composition shifts. Soil Science Society of America Journal: in revision.

McNeal K.S., Miller H.R., and Herbert B.E. 2008. Developing non-science majors conceptual models of complex Earth systems in a physical geology course. Journal of Geoscience Education 56: 201-211.

McCarthy M.J., McNeal K.S., Gardner W.S., Morse J.W. 2008. Bottom-water hypoxia effects on sediment-water interface nitrogen transformations in a seasonally hypoxic, shallow bay (Corpus Christi Bay, Texas, USA). Estuaries and Coasts 31:521-531.