Scott Fendorf's research is broadly focused on water quality and nutrient cycling.  His research focuses on defining processes (chemical, biological, and hydrological) that drive the cycling and fate of elements, ranging from carbon to uranium, within soils and waters. Scott’s work spans field studies at the watershed-to-country scale down to laboratory studies detailing the more fundamental aspects of element cycling. Encompassed within his work are soil processes influencing plant uptake of hazardous elements. Scott is one of the lead scientists helping to define the distribution of, and resolve the processes responsible for, arsenic contamination of groundwater across large river basins and deltas of Asia.