Carrie Givens
Science and Products
Southwest Wisconsin Groundwater and Geology (SWIGG) study
The fractured bedrock aquifers of southwest Wisconsin are often overlain by shallow soils, so private wells are potentially vulnerable to contamination by nitrate and pathogens from the land surface. The goal of this study is to evaluate the extent and causes of private well water contamination in three southwest Wisconsin counties.
Bacterial Pathogens
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Michigan Bacteriological Research Laboratory (MI-BaRL) studies the source, occurrence, and distribution of the bacterial pathogens Shiga-toxin producing E. coli (STEC), Salmonella, Shigella, Campylobacter, Enterococcus, and Staphylococcus and the relation of occurrence of pathogens with fecal indicator bacteria, land-use, season, hydrology, geology, weather...
Enhance Great Lakes Beach Recreational Water Quality Decision Making
Important questions about beach closures and management remain unanswered in the Great Lakes where over 500 beaches are routinely used along the nearly 11,000 miles of coastline. The economies of coastal areas are dependent on public confidence in the quality of water at the shoreline, and beach managers need reliable science-based information to make beach closure and beach management...
Antibiotic Resistance
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Michigan Bacteriological Research Laboratory (MI-BaRL) conducts research on antibiotic-resistant bacteria and their genes. We have concentrated our studies on antibiotic-resistant bacteria of human-health concern, including vancomycin-resistant enterococci, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (...
Microbial Source Tracking
It is often important to understand the source of fecal indicator bacteria, pathogens, or chemicals that impair the normal use of water. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria and their genes, specific bacterial pathogens (such as E. coli O157:H7 which is primarily associated with cattle), and host-associated bacterial genes (such as human or animal specific Bacteroides genes), can be used to evaluate...
Microbiological Water Quality
Recreational water and industrial discharges are regulated by other federal and state agencies across the country. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Michigan Bacteriological Research Laboratory (MI-BaRL) conducts studies to understand the fate and transport of fecal indicator bacteria in surface and groundwater to aid state and federal partners. A variety of standardized protocols are used to...
Microbial Ecology
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Michigan Bacteriological Research Laboratory (MI-BaRL) conducts ecological studies on the structure and function of eubacterial and archeal communities in the environment. Studies of this type give us basic information about the composition and functionality of different microbial communities and allow us to investigate the effects that natural and...
Michigan Bacteriological Research Laboratory (MI-BaRL)
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Michigan Bacteriological Research Laboratory (MI-BaRL) is a newly renovated laboratory space operated by the USGS Michigan Water Science Center in Lansing, MI. The laboratory is staffed by two Ph.D. level microbiologists and five M.S. level microbiologists with a combined 70 years of experience in microbiology and water resources research. The USGS MI-BaRL...
Michigan Bacteriological Research Laboratory — Lansing, Michigan
About the Laboratory
Microbiologists at the Michigan Bacteriological Research Laboratory (MI-BaRL) use a wide array of traditional and modern molecular approaches to evaluate microbial pathogens and antimicrobial resistance pathways in the environment. The MI-BaRL uses these approaches to advance the understanding of how environmental contaminants affect microbial...
Ohio Microbiology Program - Home
The U.S. Geological Survey MI-OH Water Science Center Microbiology Laboratories in Lansing, Michigan and Columbus, Ohio address water-related public-health concerns across the Nation using traditional and cutting-edge analytical approaches. The laboratories work with government agencies, academic institution, and regional and local partners to study the processes and anthropogenic influences...
Swine Manure Application as a Source of Hepatitis E Virus and other Livestock-Related Pathogens
The presence of indicator bacteria, hepatitis E virus (HEV), and numerous bacterial pathogen genes increased following precipitation-induced runoff events in streams draining adjacent land surfaces in Iowa where swine manure was recently applied.
Bacterial Pathogen Genes in Streams related to Animal Type and Hydrologic Conditions
A U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) study elucidates the influence of animal type and environmental variables on bacterial pathogen occurrence in streams under typical watershed conditions.
Incipient bed-movement and flood-frequency analysis using hydrophones to estimate flushing flows on the upper Colorado River, Colorado, 2019
In 2019, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Upper Colorado River Wild and Scenic Stakeholder Group, studied the magnitude and recurrence interval of streamflow (discharge) needed to initiate bed movement of gravel-sized and finer sediment in a segment of the Colorado River in Colorado to better understand sediment movement and its...
Kohn, Michael S.; Marineau, Mathieu D.; Hempel, Laura A.; McDonald, Richard R.
Calibration of the U.S. Geological Survey National Crustal Model
The U.S. Geological Survey National Crustal Model (NCM) is being developed to include spatially varying estimates of site response in seismic hazard assessments. Primary outputs of the NCM are continuous velocity and density profiles from the Earth’s surface to the mantle transition zone at 410-kilometer (km) depth for each location on a 1-km grid...
Boyd, Oliver S.
seawaveQ—An R package providing a model and utilities for analyzing trends in chemical concentrations in streams with a seasonal wave (seawave) and adjustment for streamflow (Q) and other ancillary variables, version 2.0.0
The seawaveQ R package provides functionality and help to fit a parametric regression model, SEAWAVE-Q, to pesticide concentration data from stream-water samples to assess trends. The model incorporates the strong seasonality and high degree of censoring common in pesticide data, and users can incorporate numerous ancillary variables such as...
Ryberg, Karen R.; York, Benjamin C.
Estimating streamflow and base flow within the nontidal Chesapeake Bay riverine system
Daily mean streamflow was estimated for all the nontidal parts of the Chesapeake Bay riverine system with the Unit Flows in Networks of Channels computer application using measured streamflow at the most downstream gage of selected rivers. The streamflows estimated by the Unit Flows in Networks of Channels computer application were aggregated at...
Buffington, Patrick C.; Capel, Paul D.
Estimates of groundwater discharge by evapotranspiration, Stump Spring and Hiko Springs, Clark County, southern Nevada, 2016–18
This report documents methodology and results of a study that estimated groundwater discharge by evapotranspiration (GWET) from phreatophytic vegetation in two desert riparian areas with ephemeral spring discharge in Clark County, southern Nevada. The phreatophytes consisted primarily of western honey mesquite [Prosopis glandulosa var. ...
Moreo, Michael T.; Buto, Susan G.; Smith, David W.; Nelson, Nora C.
Biotelemetry data for Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) captured in coastal southern California, February 2017–December 2019
Because of a lack of clarity about the status of golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) in coastal southern California, the U.S. Geological Survey, in collaboration with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Bureau of Land Management, and San Diego Management and Monitoring Program, began a multi-year survey and...
Tracey, Jeff A.; Madden, Melanie C.; Molden, James C.; Sebes, Jeremy B.; Bloom, Peter H.; Fisher, Robert N.
Geochemical assessment of the Hueco Bolson, New Mexico and Texas, 2016–17
Understanding groundwater quality in transboundary aquifers like the Hueco Bolson is important for the 2.7 million people along the United States and Mexico border living in and near the combined metropolitan areas of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, and El Paso, Texas, who rely on groundwater for water supply. To better understand water-quality conditions...
Ging, Patricia B.; Humberson, Delbert G.; Ikard, Scott J.
Assessment of water and proppant quantities associated with petroleum production from the Eagle Ford Group, Gulf Coast, Texas, 2019
Building on a geology-based assessment of undiscovered, technically recoverable petroleum resources in the Eagle Ford Group in south Texas, the U.S. Geological Survey has estimated the required water and proppant demands and formation water production volumes associated with possible future development of these petroleum resources. The results of...
Gianoutsos, Nicholas J.; Haines, Seth S.; Varela, Brian A.; Whidden, Katherine J.; Birdwell, Justin E.; Burke, Lauri A.; Drake, Ronald M.; Finn, Thomas M.; French, Katherine L.; Jenni, Karen E.; Kinney, Scott A.; Le, Phuong A.; Leathers-Miller, Heidi M.; Marra, Kristen R.; Mercier, Tracey J.; Paxton, Stanley T.; Pitman, Janet K.; Schenk, Christopher J.; Shaffer, Brian N.; Shorten, Chilisa M.; Tennyson, Marilyn E.; Woodall, Cheryl A.
Quality of pesticide data for groundwater analyzed for the National Water-Quality Assessment Project, 2013–18
The National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) submitted nearly 1,900 samples collected from groundwater sites across the United States in 2013–18 for analysis of 225 pesticide compounds (pesticides and pesticide degradates, hereafter referred to as “pesticides”) by USGS National Water Quality Laboratory...
Bexfield, Laura M.; Belitz, Kenneth; Sandstrom, Mark W.; Beaty, Delicia; Medalie, Laura; Lindsey, Bruce D.; Nowell, Lisa H.
Assessing the influence of natural copper-nickel-bearing bedrocks of the Duluth Complex on water quality in Minnesota, 2013–15
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the University of Minnesota-Duluth Natural Resources Research Institute, completed an assessment of regional water quality in areas of potential base-metal mining in Minnesota. Bedrock, soil, streambed sediment, and surface-water samples were collected in three watersheds that cross the basal part of...
Elliott, Sarah M.; Jones, Perry M.; Woodruff, Laurel G.; Jennings, Carrie E.; Krall, Aliesha L.; Morel, Daniel L.
Citizen science collaboration with the U.S. Geological Survey in Alaska
Citizen science is science undertaken by the public, usually in collaboration with professional scientific institutions. It encourages citizens to tackle real-world scientific problems and augments traditional science by expanding the coverage of data collection and by reducing costs of fieldwork in remote locations. Information collected by...
Powers, Elizabeth; Williams, Dee
A not so sudden impact—Historical relations between conifers and insects can help predict damage by nonnative insects
The arrival and establishment of nonnative insects in North America is increasingly problematic. International trade has created opportunities to move wood products and nursery stock worldwide, which has increased the risk of insect introduction to regions or countries where they are not native. One group of researchers,...
Durden, Lekeah A.; Schulz, Ashley N.; Mech, Angela M.; Thomas, Kathryn A.