George Kling is interested in how elements such as carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycle through the environment, and the implications of this cycling for ecosystem function. His research includes the study of land-water interactions, physical transport, geochemical reactions, and the role of organisms in element storage and transformation. It is these phenomena that underlie our understanding of the broad environmental problems of acid rain, eutrophication, species introductions, and climate change. The general goal of this research is to understand better what controls important ecosystem functions, and how various controls relate to ecological theory and to the major environmental problems of our world.