Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Courtney Killian

Courtney is a hydrologist with the Pennsylvania Water Science Center in the Bridgeville, Pennsylvania office where she investigates groundwater and water quality.

Courtney’s current work includes quantifying available groundwater resources with the use of machine-learning techniques to map groundwater quality across an aquifer in three dimensions. This work helps to identify areas where poor water quality may limit the use of fresh water for agricultural, industrial, and drinking water uses. 

Courtney also applies machine-learning techniques to predict groundwater levels through time at ungaged locations across an aquifer. Courtney's research has included groundwater and surface-water interaction studies, low-flow groundwater quality sampling for age tracers, isokinetic depth-integrated surface-water sampling, and nuclear magnetic resonance borehole and surface imaging. She enjoys using R and Python programming in conjunction with GIS to help answer regional water availability questions. 

 

Education and Certifications

  • Mississippi State University, 2016-18, Doctor of Philosophy, Earth and Atmospheric Science

  • Mississippi State University, 2013-15, Master of Science, Geoscience

  • California University of Pennsylvania, 2009-2013, Bachelor of Science, Geology

  • Registered Professional Geologist no. 998, State of Mississippi, 2020 – Present

  • Geospatial and Remote Sensing Technologies Certification, Mississippi State University, 2015

     

Affiliations and Memberships*

  • Geological Society of America, 2012 – Present

     

Honors and Awards

  • U.S. Department of the Interior Star Award, 2018

     

Abstracts and Presentations

  • Killian, C., and Knierim, K.J., 2021, Incorporating airborne electromagnetic survey data into machine-learning models to predict groundwater salinity in the Mississippi River Valley Alluvial aquifer: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 53, no. 6, https://doi.org/10.1130/abs/2021AM-364652.

  • Asquith, W., and Killian, C. (presenter), 2021, Covariate builder and machine learning modeling software to predict groundwater levels for the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer, Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 53, no. 6, https://doi.org/10.1130/abs/2021AM-365803.

  • Killian, C., and Knierim, K.J., 2020, Using machine-learning predictions of groundwater salinity to assess water availability in the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer, Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs.

  • Killian, C., Bussell, A., Knierim, K.J., Wacaster, S., and Gratzer, M., 2020, Groundwater quality and age to address water availability in the Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer, Technical Presentation, Mississippi Water Resources Conference, Jackson, MS.

  • Killian, C., Bussell, A., Knierim, K.J., Kingsbury, J., Wacaster, S., Kress, W.H., 2019, Mapping the Variability of Specific Conductance in Groundwater of the Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer, Technical Presentation, Mississippi Water Resources Conference, Jackson, MS.

  • Killian, C., Adams, R.F., Rigby, J.R., Leaf, A. Barlow, J.R.B., Kress, W.H., Schmitz, D.W., 2018, Evaluation of Methods for Relating Continuous Streambed Resistivity Data and Hydraulic Conductivity in the Mississippi Delta, Technical Presentation, Mississippi Water Resources Conference, Jackson, MS.

  • Killian, C., Barlow, J.R.B., Barlow, P., Kress, W.H., Schmitz, D.W., 2018, Groundwater and Surface-Water Interaction Characterization of the Mississippi Delta Using Hydrograph- Separation Techniques and Trend Analyses, Technical Presentation, 82nd Annual Meeting, Mississippi Academy of Sciences, Hattiesburg, MS.

  • Killian, C., Barlow, J.R.B., Barlow, P., Kress, W.H., Schmitz, D.W., 2017, Characterizing Groundwater and Surface-Water Interaction in the Mississippi Delta Using Hydrograph Separation, Technical Presentation, National Ground Water Association, Nashville, TN.

  • Killian, C., Barlow, J.R.B., Barlow, P., Kress, W.H., Schmitz, D.W., 2017, Characterizing groundwater and surface-water interaction throughout the Mississippi Delta using hydrograph-separation techniques combined with near-stream geophysical and groundwater-level data, Technical Presentation, Mississippi Water Resources Conference, Jackson, MS.

     

Science and Products

Groundwater levels and other covariates useful for statistical modeling for the Mississippi River Valley Alluvial aquifer, Mississippi Alluvial Plain

Groundwater-level data, in conjunction with attendant metadata and covariates (predictor variables) data, for the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer (MRVA) are used to support statistical and process-based numerical modeling. This page represents a collection of groundwater-level data within the expanse of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain (MAP) (Painter and Westerman, 2018) and are derived fr
By
Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center

MODFLOW-2005 model used to evaluate water-management scenarios for the Mississippi Delta

A three-dimensional groundwater flow model (MODFLOW-2005) of the Mississippi embayment, South-Central United States, was developed as part of a national project initiated by the U.S. Geological Survey Groundwater Resources Program to provide updated assessments of groundwater availability in important principal aquifers across the United States. The goals of the national assessment are to document
By
Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center

Estimated and measured streamflow and groundwater-level data in the Mississippi Delta

This data release provides the data that support the findings in "Characterizing groundwater and surface-water interaction using hydrograph-separation techniques and groundwater-level data throughout the Mississippi Delta" by Killian and others (2019). There are two child items below: (1) Estimated baseflow includes the baseflow_est data and metadata that contain daily mean streamflow d
By
Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center

Simulation of water-management scenarios for the Mississippi Delta

To compare the effectiveness of proposed alternative water-supply scenarios on future water availability in the Mississippi Delta, the U.S. Geological Survey and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality are collaborating on the update and enhancement of an existing regional groundwater-flow model of the area. Through this collaboration, the model has been updated to include boundary con
By
Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center

Characterizing groundwater/surface-water interaction using hydrograph-separation techniques and groundwater-level data throughout the Mississippi Delta, USA

The Mississippi Delta, located in northwest Mississippi, is an area dense with industrial-level agriculture sustained by groundwater-dependent irrigation supplied by the Mississippi River Valley Alluvial aquifer (alluvial aquifer). The Delta provides agricultural commodities across the United States and around the world. Observed declines in groundwater altitudes and streamflow contemporaneous wit
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program, Oklahoma-Texas Water Science Center, New England Water Science Center, Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center

Non-USGS Publications**

Killian, C., Asquith, W.H., Barlow, J.R.B., Bent, G.C., Kress, W.H., Barlow, P.M., and Schmitz, D.W., 2019, Characterizing groundwater and surface-water interaction using hydrograph-separation techniques and groundwater-level data throughout the Mississippi Delta, USA: Hydrogeol. J, 27, 2167-2179, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-019-01981-6.
Killian, C., 2018, Characterizing spatial and temporal changes and driving factors of groundwater and surface-water interactions within the Mississippi portion of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain, Mississippi State University, Mississippi, https://hdl.handle.net/11668/21276.
Killian, C., 2015, Surface-water and groundwater interactions of a stream reach and proposed reservoir within the Pascagoula River Basin: George County, Mississippi: Mississippi State University, Mississippi, https://hdl.handle.net/11668/20516.
Killian, C. and Stoner, T., 2013, B-1112 Elementary Problems and Solutions: The Fibonacci Quarterly, 51 (3), 277-278.

**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.

covMRVAgen1, Source code for construction of covariates bound to monthly groundwater levels for purposes of statistical modeling of water levels in the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer

The covMRVAgen1 repository contains R (primarily), Mermaid, Perl, and Python language source code that can be used the construction of input tables of monthly groundwater levels (response variable) and predictor variables (covariates) for statistical modeling of water levels in the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer within the Mississippi Alluvial Plain, south-central United States. The sou
By
Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center

Science and Products

*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government