Nathaniel J. Schaepe

Nathan began working as a student intern for the U.S Geological Survey (USGS) Central Plains Water Science Center in 2005 while finishing his civil engineering degree from the Missouri University of Science & Technology. After completing his degree in 2008 he began working fulltime as a hydrologist and in 2011 was designated as the center's geographic information systems (GIS) Specialist. He has lead or assisted in several investigative studies alongside federal partners (National Park Service and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) to monitor and investigate hydrologic, sediment, and nutrient dynamics in the federal protected areas of the Niobrara and Missouri Rivers (Niobrara National Scenic River and Missouri National Recreational River). Nathan is also responsible for managing the surface water component of the USGS National Water Quality Network (NWQN) which entails regular water-quality and sediment sampling of sites on the Platte, Elkhorn and Dismal Rivers and a smaller tributary (Maple Creek). His areas of expertise include water-quality and sediment sampling, GIS analysis of stream geomorphology data (field and remote-sensing data), stream habitat surveys, and water-quality and hydrologic data analysis. Recently Nathan has been using surrogate techniques to estimate sediment transport using acoustic instruments (ADVM, ADCPs) and has completed training related to developing sediment-surrogate relations using the USGS Surrogate Analysis and Index Developer (SAID) tool.