David Krabbenhoft is a Scientist Emeritus with the Upper Midwest Water Science Center.
David Krabbenhoft received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1988 and has been a research scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey since. He has general research interests are in biogeochemistry and hydrogeology of aquatic ecosystems. Dave began working on environmental mercury cycling, transformations, and fluxes in aquatic ecosystems with the Mercury in Temperate Lakes project in 1988; since then, the topic has consumed his professional life. In 1994, Dave established the USGS’s Mercury Research Laboratory, which includes a team of multi-disciplinary mercury investigators and a state-of-the-art analytical facility strictly dedicated to low-level speciation analysis of mercury. In 1995 he initiated the multi-agency Aquatic Cycling of Mercury in the Everglades (ACME) project, which is still ongoing. More recently, Dave has been a Primary Investigator on the internationally conducted Mercury Experiment To Assess Atmospheric Loadings in Canada and the US (METAALICUS) project, which is a novel effort to examine the ecosystem-level response to loading an entire watershed with mercury. Currently, Dave’s research team is active on projects that span environments as far ranging as the Pacific Ocean to freshwater systems in Alaska to Florida, and from California to New England. In recent years, the Mercury Research Team entered into the realm of atmospheric research by constructing and deployed the USGS Mobile Atmospheric Mercury Lab, which has the capability for rapid deployment and advanced study of mercury in the atmosphere. Since 1990, he has authored or coauthored over 100 papers on mercury in the environment. In August 2006, Dave served as the Co-Chair for the 8th International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant.
Professional Experience
Research Hydrologist/Geochemist, U.S. Geological Survey, Wisconsin Water Science Center, 8505 Research Way, Middleton, Wisconsin, July 1988 to present.
Adjunct, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2001 to present.
USGS Mercury Research Lab, Team Leader, 1994 to present.
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. 1988, University of Wisconsin-Madsion, Department of Geology and Geophysics; research emphasis isotope geochemistry, limnology, and hydrogeology
M.S. 1984, University of Wisconsin-Madsion, Department of Geology and Geophysics; research emphasis geochemistry and hydrogeology
B.S. 1982, North Dakota St. University, Major: Geology, Minor: Chemistry
Honors and Awards
Shoemaker Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Science Communications (October 2013)
USGS performance awards (received on 24 occasions from 1988-2013)
Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, In Recognition for Meritorious Service (2003)
Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, In Recognition for Superior Service (1997)
Exxon Research Scholarship, University of Wisconsin-Madison (1982)
Summa Cum Laude, North Dakota State University (19
Science and Products
Long-Term Monitoring Reveals How Water and Biota in Remote Lakes Respond Differently to Changes in Atmospheric Deposition of Mercury
Areas of Concern: Development of St. Louis River AOC Remedial Targets for Mercury
How are Mercury Sources Determined?
Food Web Changes Dampen Expected Reductions in Lake Trout Mercury Levels in Lake Michigan—Invasive Species Play Major Role
Mercury Isotope Ratios used to Determine Sources of Mercury to Fish in Northeast U.S. Streams
Mercury studies
Mercury studies
North American and European Atmospheric Mercury Declines Explained by Local and Regional Emission Reductions
New Tool to Track Sources and Exposure Pathways of Mercury in the Environment — Application for Predatory Fish in the Great Lakes
Complex Response to Decline in Atmospheric Deposition of Mercury
Mercury cycling, bioaccumulation, and risk across western North America: a landscape scale synthesis linking long-term datasets
Environmental Mercury Cycling and Global Change
Science and Products
- Science
Long-Term Monitoring Reveals How Water and Biota in Remote Lakes Respond Differently to Changes in Atmospheric Deposition of Mercury
A comparison of regional mercury atmospheric deposition data with water, yellow perch, and dragonfly larvae samples from lakes in Voyageurs National Park indicates that decreases in mercury emissions resulted in mercury reduction in water from these remote lakes, but mercury declines in biota were significant in only one of three lakes, likely because resident biota integrate exposure over much...Areas of Concern: Development of St. Louis River AOC Remedial Targets for Mercury
The St. Louis River Area of Concern (SLRAOC) was designated in 1987 owing to the presence of a variety of legacy pollutants, including mercury. Elevated fish-mercury levels lead fish consumption advisories by both Minnesota and Wisconsin, which resulted in Beneficial Use Impairments (BUIs).How are Mercury Sources Determined?
USGS scientists use innovative isotopic identification methods to determine mercury sources in air, water, sediments, and wildlife.Food Web Changes Dampen Expected Reductions in Lake Trout Mercury Levels in Lake Michigan—Invasive Species Play Major Role
Combined analyses of mercury, nitrogen, and carbon isotopes in archived lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) tissues and sediment cores in Lake Michigan from 1978 to 2012 indicated that lake trout mercury concentrations mirrored declines in mercury sources prior to the arrival of invasive species that changed mercury transfer through the food and dampened the expected decreases in mercury...Mercury Isotope Ratios used to Determine Sources of Mercury to Fish in Northeast U.S. Streams
Mercury isotope analyses were used to distinguish different sources of mercury to fish in 23 streams along a forested-rural to urban-industrial land-use gradient in the Northeastern United States. The use of mercury isotope measurements in fish tissue allow for distinguishing different sources of mercury that are bioaccumulating into the food web. Mercury isotope signatures in fish in forested...Mercury studies
The USGS Mercury Research Lab is a national leader in advancing mercury research and science, specializing in low-level mercury speciation and isotope analysis and mercury-source fingerprinting. The MRL leads national cutting-edge collaborative studies, including state-of-the-art sample analysis, methods development for field and lab procedures, and data interpretation and dissemination.Mercury studies
The USGS Mercury Research Lab is a national leader in advancing mercury research and science, specializing in low-level mercury speciation and isotope analysis and mercury-source fingerprinting. The MRL leads national cutting-edge collaborative studies, including state-of-the-art sample analysis, methods development for field and lab procedures, and data interpretation and dissemination.North American and European Atmospheric Mercury Declines Explained by Local and Regional Emission Reductions
Recent findings from a consortium of university, State, and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists indicate that declining atmospheric concentrations of mercury (Hg) can be explained by the phaseout of mercury in many commercial products and by reduced emissions from utilities over the past two decades.New Tool to Track Sources and Exposure Pathways of Mercury in the Environment — Application for Predatory Fish in the Great Lakes
The US Geological Survey (USGS) and collaborators at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed a new tool for attributing (fingerprinting) mercury sources to the Great Lakes. This new fingerprinting tool helps resource managers understand which mitigation strategies will be most effective for reducing mercury loading and exposure to fish and wildlife.Complex Response to Decline in Atmospheric Deposition of Mercury
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists found that mercury concentrations in shallow waters and methylmercury (MeHg) concentrations in fish in four lakes in Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota, were not consistent with decreases in the wet atmospheric deposition of mercury recorded at nearby monitoring stations for over a decade. Methylmercury is a toxic form of mercury (Hg) that accumulates and...Mercury cycling, bioaccumulation, and risk across western North America: a landscape scale synthesis linking long-term datasets
Mercury (Hg) is a serious environmental problem that is impacting ecological and human health on a global scale. However, local and regional processes are largely responsible for producing methylmercury, which drives ecological risk. This is particularly true in western North America where the combination of diverse landscapes, habitat types, climates, and Hg sources may disproportionally impact tEnvironmental Mercury Cycling and Global Change
Rising global temperatures and changing human actions will significantly affect the environmental distribution of mercury worldwide, according to a recent article in Science by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Harvard University scientists. Higher temperatures and weaker air circulation patterns from climate change will likely have significant impacts on the atmospheric lifetime and patterns of... - Data
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