Since joining the UD faculty 31 years ago, Sparks has created an internationally prominent graduate program in environmental soil chemistry in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. He has authored 284 scientific publications and three textbooks, mentored 54 graduate students and 25 postdoctoral researchers, and served as an invitational speaker at 84 universities and institutes on four continents. He served as chair of the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences for 20 years.
Sparks' research focuses on how toxic metals such as arsenic, nickel, and zinc and plant nutrients such as phosphorus and sulfur are bound by soil particles and under what conditions the toxins or nutrients may be released into water supplies and become available to plants, animals and humans. He has been one of the leaders in employing synchrotron-based techniques to elucidate metal reaction mechanisms at soil and mineral surfaces. The results of his studies are useful in developing strategies for remediation of contaminated soils.
He has successfully competed for more than $31 million in research contracts and grants and won numerous awards and honors, including the University's highest academic recognition, the Francis Alison Award in 1996. He was named Distinguished Professor in 1994 and S. Hallock du Pont Endowed Chair in 2002.
Most recently, in August 2010, Sparks received the Liebig Medal from the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) for his outstanding contributions in soil science research. He served as president of the IUSS from 2002 to 2006.
Sparks is also highly regarded as a graduate student mentor. He was the first recipient of the UD Doctoral Student Advising and Mentoring Award, and in April 2010, he received the Geoffrey Marshall Mentoring Award from the Northeastern Association of Graduate Schools. His students have gone on to earn many accolades of their own, including three Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor in the U.S. for beginning scientists and engineers.
Sparks is also the recipient of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Sterling B. Hendricks Medal, a McMaster Fellowship from the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Research Organization (CSIRO), the Soil Science Research and M. L. and Chrystie M. Jackson Soil Chemistry/Mineralogy Awards, and the Environmental Quality Research Award. He also is an ISI Highly Cited Researcher.
Sparks is a fellow of the Soil Science Society of America, the American Society of Agronomy, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Geochemical Society and the European Association of Geochemists. He serves on the editorial boards of seven soil science, environmental science and geochemistry journals.
