Cheryl Horton
Biography
Cheryl Horton is a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Western Ecological Research
Center. Her work focuses on the distribution, abundance, habitat associations, seasonal variation, and
species composition of seabirds and marine mammals. She is interested in the application of technology
and novel analytic methods to inform marine spatial planning and renewable energy development. As
part of the Seabird Studies Team, Cheryl contributes to projects using digital aerial photography,
tracking data, acoustic monitors, and traditional surveys to study seabirds and the marine environment.
Education
MSc, Wildlife Science, Oregon State University 2014
BS, Natural Resources: Applied Ecology, Cornell University 2006
Research Interests:
- Seabird Ecology, Breeding Biology and Food Web Dynamics
- Tracking and Movement Ecology
- Marine Spatial Planning
- Data Science and Machine Learning
Science and Products
Aerial Seabird and Marine Mammal Surveys
The Seabird Studies Team at the USGS Western Ecological Research Center is conducting aerial photographic surveys of the ocean off central and southern California to create comprehensive maps of seabird and marine mammal distributions. The project is supported by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and will inform planning in advance of potential offshore wind energy development along the...
Santa Cruz Field Station
Scientists at the Santa Cruz Field Station study sea otters and seabirds in their environment. The USGS Western Ecological Research Center has two research missions based in the Santa Cruz region:
Elevated levels of radiocarbon in methane dissolved in seawater reveal likely local contamination from nuclear powered vessels
Measurements of the natural radiocarbon content of methane (14C-CH4) dissolved in seawater and freshwater have been used to investigate sources and dynamics of methane. However, during investigations along the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic Ocean Margins of the United States, as well as in the North American Great Lakes, some samples revealed...
Joung, D.J.; Ruppel, Carolyn D.; Southon, J.; Kessler, John D. Targeted and non-targeted analysis of young-of-year smallmouth bass using comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry
Smallmouth bass in the Susquehanna River Basin, Chesapeake Bay Watershed, USA, have been exhibiting clinical signs of disease and reproductive endocrine disruption (e.g., intersex, male plasma vitellogenin) for over fifteen years. Previous histological and targeted chemical analyses have identified infectious agents and pollutants in fish tissues...
Teehan, Paige; Schall, Megan K.; Blazer, Vicki S.; Dorman, Frank L Post-fire temporal trends in soil-physical and -hydraulic properties and simulated runoff generation: Insights from different burn severities in the 2013 Black Forest Fire, CO, USA
Burn severity influences on post-fire recovery of soil-hydraulic properties controlling runoff generation are poorly understood despite the importance for parameterizing infiltration models. We measured soil-hydraulic properties of field-saturated hydraulic conductivity (Kfs), sorptivity (S), and wetting front potential (ψf) for four years after...
Ebel, Brian A.; Moody, John A.; Martin, Deborah A. Evidence for interannual persistence of infectious influenza A viruses in Alaska wetlands
Influenza A viruses (IAVs) deposited by wild birds into the environment may lead to sporadic mortality events and economically costly outbreaks among domestic birds. There is a paucity of information, however, regarding the persistence of infectious IAVs within the environment following deposition. In this investigation, we assessed the...
Ramey, Andrew M.; Reeves, Andrew B.; Lagassé, Benjamin Joel; Patil, Vijay P.; Hubbard, Laura E.; Kolpin, Dana W.; McCleskey, R. Blaine; Repert, Deborah A.; Stallknecht, David E.; Poulson, Rebecca L. Evaluation of ELISA for the analysis of imidacloprid in biological matrices: Cross-reactivities, matrix interferences, and comparison to LC-MS/MS
Imidacloprid is among the most used pesticides worldwide and there are toxicity concerns for nontarget organisms. Accurate and sensitive methods are necessary to quantitate imidacloprid concentrations in biological matrices to better understand their fate and effects. Here we evaluated an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit for...
Gross, Michael S.; Woodward, Emily; Hladik, Michelle Tungsten skarn potential of the Yukon-Tanana Upland, eastern Alaska, USA—A mineral resource assessment
Tungsten (W) is used in a variety of industrial and technological applications and has been identified as a critical mineral for the United States, India, the European Union, and other countries. These countries rely on W imports mostly from China, which leaves them vulnerable to supply disruption. Consequently, the U.S. government...
Case, George N.D.; Graham, Garth E.; Marsh, Erin E.; Taylor, Ryan; Green, Carlin J.; Brown II, Philip J.; Labay, Keith A.
Hydrogeology and gain/loss assessment of two lakes contaminated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, vicinity of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, 2020–21
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been identified in two lakes near Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (JBMDL) in New Jersey—Little Pine Lake in Pemberton Township and Pine Lake in Manchester Township. The streams that enter these lakes begin in or near JBMDL where sources of PFAS contamination are located. The U.S. Geological Survey,...
Fiore, Alex R.; Witzigman, Christopher M.; Reiser, Robert G. Past, present, and future of Mars Polar Science: Outcomes and outlook from the 7th International Conference on Mars Polar Science and Exploration
Mars Polar Science is a subfield of Mars science that encompasses all studies of the cryosphere of Mars and its interaction with the Martian environment. Every 4 yr, the community of scientists dedicated to this subfield meets to discuss new findings and debate open issues in the International Conference on Mars Polar Science and Exploration (...
Becerra, Patricio; Smith, Isaac B.; Hibbard, Shannon M; Andres, Chimira; Bapst, Jonathan; Bramson, Ali; Buhler, Peter; Coronato, Andrea; Diniega, Serina; Emmett, Jeremy; Grau Galofre, Anna; Herny, Clemence; Kahre, Melinda; Knightly, J. Paul; Nerozzi, Stefano; Pascuzzo, Alyssa; Portyankina, Ganna; Rabassa, Jorge; Tamppari, Leslie; Titus, Timothy N.; Whitten, Jennifer L; Yoldi, Zuriñe Lessons learned from development of natural capital accounts in the United States and European Union
The United States and European Union (EU) face common challenges in managing natural capital and balancing conservation and resource use with consumption of other forms of capital. This paper synthesizes findings from 11 individual application papers from a special issue of Ecosystem Services on natural capital accounting (NCA) and their...
Bagstad, Kenneth J.; Carter Ingram, Jane; Shapiro, Carl D.; La Notte, Alessandra; Maes, Joachim; Vallecillo, Sara; Casey, Clyde F.; Glynn, Pierre D.; Heris, Mehdi; Johnson, Justin A.; Lauer, Chris; Matuszak, John; Oleson, Kirsten L. L.; Posner, Stephen M.; Rhodes, Charles R.; Voigt, Brian
Near-field receiving-water monitoring of trace metals and a benthic community near the Palo Alto Regional Water Quality Control Plant in south San Francisco Bay, California—2019
Trace-metal concentrations in sediment and in the clam Limecola petalum (formerly reported as Macoma balthica and M. petalum), clam reproductive activity, and benthic macroinvertebrate community structure were investigated in a mudflat 1 kilometer south of the discharge of the Palo Alto Regional Water Quality Control Plant (PARWQCP) in south San...
Cain, Daniel J.; Croteau, Marie-Noële; Thompson, Janet K.; Parchaso, Francis; Stewart, Robin; Shrader, Kelly H.; Zierdt Smith, Emily L.; Luoma, Samuel N. The climate envelope of Alaska’s northern treelines: Implications for controlling factors and future treeline advance
Understanding the key mechanisms that control northern treelines is important to accurately predict biome shifts and terrestrial feedbacks to climate. At a global scale, it has long been observed that elevational and latitudinal treelines occur at similar mean growing season air temperature (GSAT) isotherms, inspiring the growth limitation...
Maher, Colin T.; Dial, Roman J.; Pastick, Neal J; Hewitt, Rebecca E.; Jorgenson, M. Torre; Sullivan, Patrick F. Evidence that copepod biomass during the larval period regulates recruitment of Lake Erie walleye
Walleye (Sander vitreus) is an economically and culturally important species in Lake Erie that has experienced large interannual variability in recruitment. We examined the importance of prey biomass during the larval period to walleye recruitment while also considering the importance of temperature. Using nine years of field data over a 22-year...
May, Cassandra J.; Budnik, R.; Ludsin, S.; O'Donnell, D.; Hood, James M.; Roseman, Edward F.; Marschall, E.