He is known for pioneering research applying geochemical isotopic methods for investigations of tectonics, global climate change, and the paleontology of Darwinian evolution.
[3] Quade's research is remarkably varied, including low-temperature geochemistry, radiometric dating using a variety of isotopes, and theoretical reconstructions of paleoenvironments, mostly from the Cenozoic.
[6] Quade with Thure E. Cerling and other colleagues did important research on stable isotope composition of soil carbonate in the Great Basin.
[1] In 2001, Quade with Nathan B. English, Julio L. Betancourt, and Jeffrey S. Dean published an important paper on the deforestation of Chaco Canyon.
From 1985 to 2015 his fieldwork on low temperature geochemistry has been done all over the world: parts of the US, Asia, Australia, and South America, as well as Greece and Ethiopia.