Images

Urban stormwater drains are used to channel runoff from precipitation away from roads for treatment and to prevent flooding. Contaminants in water can also be transported through stormwater systems in rain and snowmelt runoff. 

Water samples are extracted for pesticides at the USGS Organic Chemistry Research Laboratory.

Photo credit: Elisabeth LaBarbera

Bumble bees being prepped for pesticide residue analysis at the USGS Organic Chemistry Research Laboratory (OCRL), California.

Co-extracted matrix is removed from biosolids prior to analysis at the USGS Organic Chemistry Research Laboratory (OCRL).

Photo Credit: Gabby Black.

Suspect screening/non-target analysis is done with LC-HRMS at the Organic Chemistry Research Laboratory (OCRL) in Sacramento, CA.

Photo credit: Michelle Hladik

Long-tailed duck diving for underwater hearing testing in an experimental chamber in which the birds’ diving behavior can be studied under various environmental conditions. 

Candling (the process of using light to help determine the quality of an egg) of a grey catbird egg to determine viability.

Surf Scoter completing an underwater behavioral hearing test in an experimental chamber in which the birds’ diving behavior can be studied under various environmental conditions. 

Composite image showing five life stages of a Long-tailed duck, from hatch to subadult.

Juvenile Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) behavior is assessed following exposure to 6PPD-quinone, a derivative of the compound 6PPD which is used in tires to prevent wear.

Due to multiple reasons including the widespread use of microplastics, their environmental persistence, the global connectedness of aquatic environments, and the long-range transport of microplastics, these particles have been documented in every environmental compartment (e.g., air, water, soils).

The USGS One Health approach addresses the interconnection between people, animals, plants, and their shared environment.

Water tracing dye was injected into a stream in Leadville, Colorado, to identify locations of metal loading and to guide geophysical measurements.

A long-term fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing monitoring array installed along Cement Creek near Silverton CO to track acid mine influenced groundwater discharge to the creek over time. 

A Citizen Science Flyer requesting people to mail in deceased butterflies, moths, and skippers to help begin a USGS Scientific Collection to further research related to the decline of insect populations.

Specimens from a USGS Lepidoptera Research Collection stored at the Kansas WSC Organic Geochemistry Reseearch Laboratory. Specimens are received as part of a Citizen Science effort to establish a collection to further insect research. 

Smallmouth Bass are good indicators of methylmercury exposure to humans and wildlife because they are a common, popular sport fish and eat a variety of food during their lifetime. Juvenile Smallmouth Bass – smaller than 150mm in length - eat zooplankton, or microscopic animals.

Image of pipettors used in the laboratory. Pipettes are stored on charging docking stations. 

Image shows equipment for analysis of targeted and non-targeted organic contaminants at the OGRL located at the KS WSC. 

Fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas), pond mussel (Ligumia subrostrata), and passive samplers in an exposure tank housed inside of a mobile laboratory at the legacy fire-training area contaminated by PFAS derived from aqueous film-forming foams on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

This is the instrument laboratory of the Organic Geochemistry Research Laboratory located in the KS WSC.