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Jeni Keisman, Ph.D.

Jeni Keisman is the Hydrologic Impacts Branch Chief for the WMA Earth Systems Processes Division. 

The Hydrologic Impacts Branch (HIB) is an interdisciplinary group of hydrologists, ecologists, biogeochemists, and physical scientists. HIB scientists use field and laboratory work as well as data-driven and process modeling approaches to quantify and infer causal connections between stressors, water availability, and effects on natural and human communities.  

Professional Experience

  • Prior experiences include explaining factors affecting trends in water quality and habitat conditions, analysis of water consumption for producing transportation fuels, research on nitrogen and phosphorus cycling in forests, and synthesis of scientific insights to inform future research directions and environmental management decisions.

Education and Certifications

  • Ph.D.: Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University

  • M.S.: Sustainable Development & Conservation Biology, University of Maryland

  • B.A.: History from St. Mary’s College of Maryland

Science and Products

Filter Total Items: 24

James Tributary summary: A summary of trends in tidal water quality and associated factors, 1985-2021

The James Tributary Summary outlines change over time for a suite of monitored tidal water quality parameters and associated potential drivers of those trends for the period 1985 – 2021 and provides a brief description of the current state of knowledge explaining these observed changes. Water quality parameters described include surface (above pycnocline) total nitrogen (TN), surface total phospho
Authors
Breck Maura Sullivan, Kaylyn Gootman, Alex Gunnerson, Cindy Johnson, Chris A. Mason, Elgin Perry, Gopal Bhatt, Jennifer L. Keisman, James S. Webber, Jon Harcum, Mike Lane, Olivia Devereux, Qian Zhang, Rebecca Murphy, Renee Karrh, Tom Butler, Vanessa Van Note, Zhaoying Wei
By
Virginia and West Virginia Water Science Center

Progress in reducing nutrient and sediment loads to Chesapeake Bay: Three decades of monitoring data and implications for restoring complex ecosystems

For over three decades, Chesapeake Bay (USA) has been the focal point of a coordinated restoration strategy implemented through a partnership of governmental and nongovernmental entities, which has been a classical model for coastal restoration worldwide. This synthesis aims to provide resource managers and estuarine scientists with a clearer perspective of the magnitude of changes in water qualit
Authors
Qian Zhang, Joel Blomquist, Rosemary M. Fanelli, Jennifer L. Keisman, Doug L. Moyer, Michael J. Langland
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Chesapeake Bay Activities, Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center

Estimated reduction of nitrogen in streams of the Chesapeake Bay in areas with agricultural conservation practices

Spatial data provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Resource Conservation Service representing implementation at the field-level for a selection of agricultural conservation practices were incorporated within a spatially referenced regression model to estimate their effects on nitrogen loads in streams in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Conservation practices classified as “high-imp
Authors
Andrew Sekellick, Scott Ator, Olivia H. Devereux, Jennifer L. Keisman
By
Chesapeake Bay Activities, Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center, Pennsylvania Water Science Center

Value-aligned planning objectives for restoring North Carolina aquatic resources

Rapid population growth and development in the southeastern United States have resulted in substantial impairment to freshwater aquatic ecosystems. National or regional restoration policies strive to address impaired ecosystems but can suffer from inconsistent and opaque processes. The Clean Water Act, for example, establishes reallocation mechanisms to transfer ecosystem services from sites of di
Authors
Ana María García, Mitchell Eaton, Georgina M. Sanchez, Jennifer L. Keisman, Kirsten Ullman, James Blackwell
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Water Resources Mission Area, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC)

Integrating principles and tools of decision science into value-driven watershed planning for compensatory mitigation

Several environmental policies strive to restore impaired ecosystems and could benefit from a consistent and transparent process — co-developed with key stakeholders — to prioritize impaired ecosystems for restoration activities. The Clean Water Act, for example, establishes reallocation mechanisms to transfer ecosystem services from sites of disturbance to compensation sites to offset aquatic res
Authors
Georgina Maria Sanchez Salas, Mitchell Eaton, Ana María García, Jennifer L. Keisman, Kirsten Ullman, James Blackwell, Ross K. Meentemeyer
By
Water Resources Mission Area, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC)

Data synthesis for environmental management: A case study of Chesapeake Bay

Synthesizing large, complex data sets to inform resource managers towards effective environmental stewardship is a universal challenge. In Chesapeake Bay, a well-studied and intensively monitored estuary in North America, the challenge of synthesizing data on water quality and land use as factors related to a key habitat, submerged aquatic vegetation, was tackled by a team of scientists and resour
Authors
Robert J. Orth, William C. Dennison, David J. Wilcox, Richard A. Batiuk, Brooke J. Landry, Cassie Gurbisz, Jennifer L. Keisman, Michael Hannam, Jonathan S. Lefcheck, Rebecca R. Murphy, Kenneth A. Moore, Christopher J. Patrick, Jeremy Testa, Donald E. Weller, Melissa Merritt, Paige Hobaugh
By
Water Resources Mission Area

Nutrient improvements in Chesapeake Bay: Direct effect of load reductions and implications for coastal management

In Chesapeake Bay in the United States, decades of management efforts have resulted in modest reductions of nutrient loads from the watershed, but corresponding improvements in estuarine water quality have not clearly materialized. Generalized additive models were used to directly link river flows and nutrient loads from the watershed to nutrient trends in the estuary on a station-by-station basis
Authors
Rebecca R. Murphy, Jennifer L. D. Keisman, Jon Harcum, Renee Karrh, Michael F. Lane, Elgin S. Perry, Qian Zhang
By
Chesapeake Bay Activities

Long-term annual aerial surveys of submersed aquatic vegetation (SAV) support science, management, and restoration

Aerial surveys of coastal habitats can uniquely inform the science and management of shallow, coastal zones, and when repeated annually, they reveal changes that are otherwise difficult to assess from ground-based surveys. This paper reviews the utility of a long-term (1984-present) annual aerial monitoring program for submersed aquatic vegetation (SAV) in Chesapeake Bay, its tidal tributaries, an
Authors
Robert J. Orth, William C. Dennison, Cassie Gurbisz, Michael Hannam, Jennifer L. Keisman, J. Brooke Landry, Jonathan S. Lefcheck, Kenneth A. Moore, Rebecca Murphy, Christopher J. Patrick, Jeremy Testa, Donald E. Weller, David J. Wilcox, Richard A. Batiuk

Capacity assessment for Earth Monitoring, Analysis, and Prediction (EarthMAP) and future integrated monitoring and predictive science at the U.S. Geological Survey

Executive SummaryManagers of our Nation’s resources face unprecedented challenges driven by the convergence of increasing, competing societal demands and a changing climate that affects the stability, vulnerability, and predictability of those resources. To help meet these challenges, the scientific community must take advantage of all available technologies, data, and integrative Earth systems mo
Authors
Jennifer L. Keisman, Sky Bristol, David S. Brown, Allison K. Flickinger, Gregory Gunther, Peter S. Murdoch, MaryLynn Musgrove, John C. Nelson, Gregory D. Steyer, Kathryn A. Thomas, Ian R. Waite
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Science Synthesis, Analysis and Research Program, Science Analytics and Synthesis (SAS) Program, Energy Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center, Oklahoma-Texas Water Science Center, Oregon Water Science Center, Southwest Biological Science Center, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center

Nitrogen in the Chesapeake Bay watershed—A century of change, 1950–2050

ForewordSustaining the quality of the Nation’s water resources and the health of our diverse ecosystems depends on the availability of sound water-resources data and information to develop effective, science-based policies. Effective management of water resources also brings more certainty and efficiency to important economic sectors. Taken together, these actions lead to immediate and long-term e
Authors
John W. Clune, Paul D. Capel, Matthew P. Miller, Douglas A. Burns, Andrew J. Sekellick, Peter R. Claggett, Richard H. Coupe, Rosemary M. Fanelli, Ana Maria Garcia, Jeff P. Raffensperger, Silvia Terziotti, Gopal Bhatt, Joel D. Blomquist, Kristina G. Hopkins, Jennifer L. Keisman, Lewis C. Linker, Gary W. Shenk, Richard A. Smith, Alex Soroka, James S. Webber, David M. Wolock, Qian Zhang
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Chesapeake Bay Activities, Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center, New York Water Science Center, Pennsylvania Water Science Center, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC), Utah Water Science Center, Virginia and West Virginia Water Science Center

Nutrient trends and drivers in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

The Chesapeake Bay Program maintains an extensive nontidal monitoring network, measuring nitrogen and phosphorus (nutrients) at more than 100 locations on rivers and streams in the watershed. Data from these locations are used by United States Geological Survey to assess the ecosystem’s response to nutrient-reduction efforts. This fact sheet summarizes recent trends in nitrogen and phosphorus in n
Authors
Kenneth E. Hyer, Scott W. Phillips, Scott W. Ator, Doug L. Moyer, James S. Webber, Rachel Felver, Jennifer L. Keisman, Lee A. McDonnell, Rebecca Murphy, Emily M. Trentacoste, Qian Zhang, William C. Dennison, Sky Swanson, Brianne Walsh, Jane Hawkey, Dylan Taillie
By
Chesapeake Bay Activities, Pennsylvania Water Science Center, Virginia and West Virginia Water Science Center

Potomac tributary report: A summary of trends in tidal water quality and associated factors

The Potomac Tributary Report summarizes change over time in a suite of monitored tidal water quality parameters and associated potential drivers of those trends for the time period 1985 – 2018, and provides a brief description of the current state of knowledge explaining these observed changes. Water quality parameters described include surface total nitrogen (TN), surface total phosphorus (TP), s
Authors
Jennifer L. Keisman, Rebecca Murphy, Olivia H. Devereux, J. Harcum, R. Karrh, M. Lane, E. Perry, James S. Webber, Zhaoying Wei, Qian Zhang, Meghan Nicole Petenbrink
By
Chesapeake Bay Activities
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Kayaking on the Potomac River

Chesapeake Science Partners Produce Tributary Summaries

Issue The Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) partnership is striving to improve water-quality conditions in the Bay and its tidal waters. The partnership needs to understand water-quality conditions in different tributaries to help assess the influence of nutrient-reduction practices and progress toward attaining water-quality standards.
By
Core Science Systems Mission Area, Chesapeake Bay Activities
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Chesapeake Science Partners Produce Tributary Summaries

Issue The Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) partnership is striving to improve water-quality conditions in the Bay and its tidal waters. The partnership needs to understand water-quality conditions in different tributaries to help assess the influence of nutrient-reduction practices and progress toward attaining water-quality standards.
Learn More
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Marshy Point, Chesapeake Bay

USGS leads STAC report on water clarity changes over the past 30 years in Chesapeake Bay

Water clarity is widely recognized as an important indicator of the health and trophic state of aquatic ecosystems and is a key management target given the limit it imposes on the growth of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV).
By
Core Science Systems Mission Area, Chesapeake Bay Activities
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USGS leads STAC report on water clarity changes over the past 30 years in Chesapeake Bay

Water clarity is widely recognized as an important indicator of the health and trophic state of aquatic ecosystems and is a key management target given the limit it imposes on the growth of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV).
Learn More
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Brook trout

USGS science informs revised water-quality restoration plans for the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed

Science Summary
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Chesapeake Bay Activities
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USGS science informs revised water-quality restoration plans for the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed

Science Summary
Learn More

USGS Earthmap Capacity Assessment Dataset

The U.S. Geological Survey provides a wide range of scientific information to an even wider group of stakeholders. Understanding what capacities are needed and if and or where these capacities exist across the USGS landscape is critical in moving science to the next level of use, implementation, and visualization. The concept behind the groups organized to conduct and interpret the survey that col

Animal Best Management Practice by Chesapeake Bay Watershed Region From 1985 to 2014

This metadata record covers 18 comma delimited files that support the USGS Scientific Investigations Report Manure and Fertilizer Inputs to Land in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, 1950-2014 by Jennifer Keisman, Olivia Devereux, Andrew LaMotte, and Andrew Sekellick. The data were created by running scenarios through the Chesapeake Bay Program Partnership Phase 5.3.2 Watershed Model for years between
By
Chesapeake Bay Activities, Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center
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USGS scientists contribute to independent study evaluating why progress in achieving Bay water quality goals is lagging

Chesapeake Bay Program — Press Release — May 9, 2023

The report by the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee offers...

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Manure and fertilizer inputs to land in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, 1950–2012 Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5022

Understanding changing nutrient concentrations in surface waters requires quantitative information on changing nutrient sources in contributing...

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