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. 

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).

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. 

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

Eric White and Patrick Scordato of the USGS float an electromagnetic imaging tool along a coastal area in Massachusetts to identify terrestrial groundwater discharge that may be impacted by PFAS contamination. 

The image shows sattelite relectance data that can be accessed using

USGS scientist standing near the high-resolution mass spectrometer at the U.S. Geological Survey Eastern Ecological Science Center. The instrument will be used for analyses of PFAS in plasma and tissue samples. Any display of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

High resolution mass spectrometer at the USGS Eastern Ecological Science Center.   Any display of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

USGS scientists Gregory D'Agostino and Katherine Wares collecting soil and worms at a site on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, that was contaminated by PFAS from fire-fighting foam.  

Invertebrate being collected at a site on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, that was contaminated by PFAS from fire-fighting foam used at the site. 

Scientist istalling a swallow nest box near Ashumet Pond, Cape Cod Massachusetts as part of a study on the fate and effects of PFAS chemicals. 

Joe Adams (USGS National Uncrewed Systems Office) pilots and Keith Grabner (USGS Columbia Environmental Research Center) acts as visual observer as a drone equipped with EPA particulate and gas samplers (right) hovers in the plume of a spring prescribed burn at the Konza Prairie Biological Station, Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Kansas.

U.S. Geological Survey scientists holding a Colorado pikeminnow during a sampling trip in the Upper Colorado River Basin.