Cheryl has been with the USGS since 1989. She is a Hydrologist and is the Unit Chief for the Cheyenne Support Unit of the Studies Section.
Cheryl started her career studying pesticides and other water-quality issues in Wyoming's groundwater and surface water. Other work has involved evaluating groundwater/surface-water interaction, and how that interaction influences water quality and biological processes.
Recently, Cheryl has been able to combine her understanding of many of the facets of hydrology and has had increased focus on using multi-disciplinary approaches to answer hydrologic questions. In particular, she enjoys using analytical techniques or available data in non-traditional ways to collaborate with other scientists.
Cheryl is also the WY-MT Water Science Center Communications Specialist.
Education and Certifications
M.S. in Agricultural and Chemical Engineering, Colorado State University, 1993
B.S. in Environmental Engineering, Colorado State University, 1991
Science and Products
Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative: Water Resources
EcoFlows: Understanding Streamflow Dynamics in Small Mountain Streams
Characterizing Hydrologic and Geomorphic Processes in a Spring-Fed, Cold-Desert Headwater Stream
Monitoring for Pesticides in Wyoming's Water
Characterization and Quantification of Salinity Loads from Blacks Fork above Smiths Fork near Lyman, Wyoming
From Gage to Page: A Look Into How USGS Helps You Know the Flow
Knowing the streamflow of a river is important for many. For example, irrigators need to know how the water can be allocated to fields, boaters need to know if the river is safe to float, and municipalities need to know how much supply will be at their intakes.
WLCI: Determining Streamflow Drivers in Wyoming Range Small Streams
WLCI: Groundwater Streamgages in the upper Green River Basin
WLCI: Long-term streamflow, water-quality, and groundwater data collection
Establishing a Streamgage
Streamgages are structures that house equipment that measures and records stream stage and other parameters before transmitting that data to centralized computers via satellites.
Creating the Rating Curve
The rating curve is a relation between stage (river level) and streamflow (discharge). Each stream channel is different and, because the stage-discharge relation is a function of the streambed material and geometry, each rating curve will be unique to that site and a particular period of time.
Wyoming-Montana Stream Water-Quality Network - Water Year 2020
Science and Products
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Filter Total Items: 13
Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative: Water Resources
The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative is a long-term science-based effort to assess and enhance aquatic and terrestrial habitats at a landscape scale in southwest Wyoming, while facilitating responsible development through local collaboration and partnerships. The WLCI is an interagency working group of partners that is beginning the process of establishing a much larger coalition of...EcoFlows: Understanding Streamflow Dynamics in Small Mountain Streams
The WY-MT WSC is collaborating with the Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center to understand the dynamics of streamflows in small, mountain streams during the course of the year, and to describe the amount of variability associated with those measurements. These findings will assist fisheries biologists who are researching temperature and streamflow effects on cutthroat trout and will help...Characterizing Hydrologic and Geomorphic Processes in a Spring-Fed, Cold-Desert Headwater Stream
The role of natural versus human-influenced factors in sedimentation of Littlefield Creek, a small, high-desert creek in south-central Wyoming is currently unknown. In general, there is little empirical information about both hydrologic and geomorphic processes (together described as hydrogeomorphic) in these types of streams. To develop a better understanding of hydrogeomorphic processes, their...Monitoring for Pesticides in Wyoming's Water
Wyoming's groundwater and streams are routinely monitored for pesticides. In order to balance the use of pesticides (herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides) with the protection of water resources, the Wyoming Department of Agriculture began a project to sample groundwater in 1995, in cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey. Since the project's inception, more than 750 samples from...Characterization and Quantification of Salinity Loads from Blacks Fork above Smiths Fork near Lyman, Wyoming
The Blacks Fork is a stream that contributes a salinity load to the Colorado River Basin. In order to quantify the salinity load, collection of continuous streamflow and specific conductance data, and monthly sampling for total-dissolved solids will occur from April 2018 through September 2019. Calculations of monthly and annual salinity loading from the Blacks Fork were published in 2021.From Gage to Page: A Look Into How USGS Helps You Know the Flow
Knowing the streamflow of a river is important for many. For example, irrigators need to know how the water can be allocated to fields, boaters need to know if the river is safe to float, and municipalities need to know how much supply will be at their intakes.
WLCI: Determining Streamflow Drivers in Wyoming Range Small Streams
Flow in small mountain and plains streams is dependent on many factors such as precipitation, groundwater inflow, topography, and geology.WLCI: Groundwater Streamgages in the upper Green River Basin
Real-time groundwater streamgages are created at existing streamgages by adding streambank wells (piezometers) to expand the understanding of groundwater/surface-water interaction. The object of this project is to: Identify interactions between the stream and near-surface groundwater Evaluate data to determine annual patterns and changes over timeWLCI: Long-term streamflow, water-quality, and groundwater data collection
Riparian and aquatic ecosystems in semiarid landscapes like Southwest Wyoming contribute substantially to regional biodiversity. Long-term monitoring data that describe streamflow, surface-water quality, and groundwater levels are needed for assessing possible effects of changes in land use on those ecosystems.Establishing a Streamgage
Streamgages are structures that house equipment that measures and records stream stage and other parameters before transmitting that data to centralized computers via satellites.
Creating the Rating Curve
The rating curve is a relation between stage (river level) and streamflow (discharge). Each stream channel is different and, because the stage-discharge relation is a function of the streambed material and geometry, each rating curve will be unique to that site and a particular period of time.
Wyoming-Montana Stream Water-Quality Network - Water Year 2020
The USGS monitors stream water quality in Wyoming and Montana in cooperation with State, County, local, and other Federal agencies. Water-quality data for these sites are available from the USGS National Water Information System Web Mapper application in the form of an interactive map that can be accessed from the Data and Tools tab.