Daniel M Wagner

Began working for USGS June 2006 as a student hydrologic technician while attending graduate school at University of Arkansas' Dept. of Geosciences. Completed graduate school December 2007.  Started working full-time for USGS February 2008 as a hydrologist in the Northwest Arkansas Project Office. 

I became interested in the geosciences when I took a geology course while attending community college in my hometown of Kansas City, Missouri.  I transferred to the University of Arkansas in August 2001 to pursue a Bachelor of Science Degree in Geology.  I completed the undergraduate program in May 2004 and was accepted to the graduate school at the University to pursue a Master of Science in Geology. 

In graduate school, I first worked as a Research Assistant for Dr. Ralph Davis from August 2004 to May 2005 on a sedimentation project involving the local 303(d) listed stream West Fork of White River, the objective of which was to quantify the sediment contributed to the river from the extensive network of gravel roads in the watershed.  I switched gears in August of 2005 and became a Teaching Assistant, teaching general geology labs.  At that time, I quit working for Dr. Davis and began working for Dr. Phil Hays on a project at the University's Savoy Experimental Watershed that would become my Master's Thesis.  The focus of the project was looking at stable oxygen and nitrogen isotopes of nitrate in a swine facility's waste lagoon in the local karst landscape.  Water samples from the lagoon were compared with samples from shallow groundwater interception trenches dug nearby to the lagoon and from springs and surface water in the watershed of the lagoon.  I completed the Master's Thesis in December 2007. 

I had started working for the USGS as a student hydrologic technician in June 2006 after the Ft. Smith, Arkansas field office had been moved to Fayetteville.  I made hundreds of discharge measurements, occasionally using current meters but more often using hydroacoustics:  SonTek Flow Trackers, OTT ADC, and RDI RioGrande and StreamPro ADCPs.  DCP installations and troubleshooting were among my tasks, as well as running station levels and water quality sampling.  I ran a surface-water and a water-quality field trip, and worked numerous storm sampling events and flood events.  After completing graduate school, I started full-time with USGS in February 2008 in the Northwest Arkansas Project Office as a hydrologist. 

Since becoming a hydrologist, I've done testing on the OTT ADC (Acoustic Digital Current meter) and written a HIF instrument news article documenting the test results, developed a discharge-based float guide for the Buffalo National River in north-central Arkansas in cooperation with the National Park Service, helped with field work for and co-authored a repor