Debra A Willard, Ph.D.
I am a palynologist (pollen and spores) with expertise in paleoecology and biostratigraphy. My biostratigraphic expertise extends from the Carboniferous to the Holocene, with an emphasis on Euramerica (Paleozoic) and the Northern Hemisphere. My paleoecological expertise includes the late Paleozoic and the Paleogene to Holocene intervals.
Editorial Boards
- Global and Planetary Change
- Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution – Paleoecology section Review Editor
- Quaternary
- Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology
Professional Experience
2021-Present Research Geologist, US Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia
2011-2021 Coordinator, USGS Land Change Science Program
1991-2011 Research Geologist, US Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia
1990-1991 Postdoctoral Researcher, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
Education and Certifications
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Ph.D., Botany 1990
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - M.S., Botany 1985
The Pennsylvania State University - B.S., Botany 1982
Stephens College - A.A., Geology 1980
Affiliations and Memberships*
American Geophysical Union
Geological Society of America
The Palynological Society
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 106
The U.S. Geological Survey and the Chesapeake Bay – The role of science in environmental restoration The U.S. Geological Survey and the Chesapeake Bay – The role of science in environmental restoration
The Chesapeake Bay is the Nation's largest estuary and historically supported one of the most productive fisheries in the world. In addition to supporting aquatic communities and wildlife, the bay's watershed serves the economic and recreational needs of 15 million people. The fertile soils of the watershed support significant agricultural production. Unfortunately, the commercial...
Authors
Roger A. Barlow, John W. Brakebill, John F. Bratton, Vicki S. Blazer, John Karl Bohlke, Owen P. Bricker, Steve M. Colman, Thomas M. Cronin, Cliff R. Hupp, Janet R. Keough, Jurate M. Landwehr, Michael J. Langland, Wayne L. Newell, Matthew Perry, Scott W. Phillips, Steve D. Preston, Nancy B. Rybicki, Nancy S. Simon, Debra A. Willard
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Climate Adaptation Science Centers, Chesapeake Bay Activities, Eastern Ecological Science Center, Florence Bascom Geoscience Center, Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center, Pennsylvania Water Science Center, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center
Radiocarbon dating, chronologic framework, and changes in accumulation rates of holocene estuarine sediments from Chesapeake Bay Radiocarbon dating, chronologic framework, and changes in accumulation rates of holocene estuarine sediments from Chesapeake Bay
Rapidly accumulating Holocene sediments in estuaries commonly are difficult to sample and date. In Chesapeake Bay, we obtained sediment cores as much as 20 m in length and used numerous radiocarbon ages measured by accelarator mass spectrometry methods to provide the first detailed chronologies of Holocene sediment accumulation in the bay. Carbon in these sediments is a complex mixture...
Authors
Steven M. Colman, P.C. Baucom, J.F. Bratton, T. M. Cronin, J. P. McGeehin, D. Willard, A.R. Zimmerman, P.R. Vogt
The Florida Everglades ecosystem: climatic and anthropogenic impacts over the last two millennia The Florida Everglades ecosystem: climatic and anthropogenic impacts over the last two millennia
No abstract available.
Authors
Debra A. Willard, Charles W. Holmes, Lisa M. Weimer
Long-term patterns of vegetation and salinity change in the Lake Pontchartrain region, Louisiana Long-term patterns of vegetation and salinity change in the Lake Pontchartrain region, Louisiana
No abstract available.
Authors
Debra A. Willard, T. M. Cronin, S. E. Ishman, Marci Marot
Bedrock cores from 89° North: Implications for the geologic framework and Neogene paleoceanography of Lomonosov Ridge and a tie to the Barents shelf Bedrock cores from 89° North: Implications for the geologic framework and Neogene paleoceanography of Lomonosov Ridge and a tie to the Barents shelf
Two piston cores from the Eurasian flank of Lomonosov Ridge near lat 88.9°N, long 140°E provide the first samples of bedrock from this high-standing trans-Arctic ridge. Core 94-PC27 sampled nonmarine siltstone similar in facies and age to uppermost Triassic to lower Lower Jurassic and mid– Lower Cretaceous beds in the 4 to > 5 km Mesozoic section on Franz Josef Land, on the outer Barents...
Authors
Arthur Grantz, Victoria L. Pease, Debra A. Willard, R. L. Phillips, David L. Clark
Pollen assemblages as paleoenvironmental proxies in the Florida Everglades Pollen assemblages as paleoenvironmental proxies in the Florida Everglades
Analysis of 170 pollen assemblages from surface samples in eight vegetation types in the Florida Everglades indicates that these wetland sub-environments are distinguishable from the pollen record and that they are useful proxies for hydrologic and edaphic parameters. Vegetation types sampled include sawgrass marshes, cattail marshes, sloughs with floating aquatics, wet prairies...
Authors
Debra A. Willard, L. M. Weimer, W.L. Riegel
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 106
The U.S. Geological Survey and the Chesapeake Bay – The role of science in environmental restoration The U.S. Geological Survey and the Chesapeake Bay – The role of science in environmental restoration
The Chesapeake Bay is the Nation's largest estuary and historically supported one of the most productive fisheries in the world. In addition to supporting aquatic communities and wildlife, the bay's watershed serves the economic and recreational needs of 15 million people. The fertile soils of the watershed support significant agricultural production. Unfortunately, the commercial...
Authors
Roger A. Barlow, John W. Brakebill, John F. Bratton, Vicki S. Blazer, John Karl Bohlke, Owen P. Bricker, Steve M. Colman, Thomas M. Cronin, Cliff R. Hupp, Janet R. Keough, Jurate M. Landwehr, Michael J. Langland, Wayne L. Newell, Matthew Perry, Scott W. Phillips, Steve D. Preston, Nancy B. Rybicki, Nancy S. Simon, Debra A. Willard
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Climate Adaptation Science Centers, Chesapeake Bay Activities, Eastern Ecological Science Center, Florence Bascom Geoscience Center, Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center, Pennsylvania Water Science Center, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center
Radiocarbon dating, chronologic framework, and changes in accumulation rates of holocene estuarine sediments from Chesapeake Bay Radiocarbon dating, chronologic framework, and changes in accumulation rates of holocene estuarine sediments from Chesapeake Bay
Rapidly accumulating Holocene sediments in estuaries commonly are difficult to sample and date. In Chesapeake Bay, we obtained sediment cores as much as 20 m in length and used numerous radiocarbon ages measured by accelarator mass spectrometry methods to provide the first detailed chronologies of Holocene sediment accumulation in the bay. Carbon in these sediments is a complex mixture...
Authors
Steven M. Colman, P.C. Baucom, J.F. Bratton, T. M. Cronin, J. P. McGeehin, D. Willard, A.R. Zimmerman, P.R. Vogt
The Florida Everglades ecosystem: climatic and anthropogenic impacts over the last two millennia The Florida Everglades ecosystem: climatic and anthropogenic impacts over the last two millennia
No abstract available.
Authors
Debra A. Willard, Charles W. Holmes, Lisa M. Weimer
Long-term patterns of vegetation and salinity change in the Lake Pontchartrain region, Louisiana Long-term patterns of vegetation and salinity change in the Lake Pontchartrain region, Louisiana
No abstract available.
Authors
Debra A. Willard, T. M. Cronin, S. E. Ishman, Marci Marot
Bedrock cores from 89° North: Implications for the geologic framework and Neogene paleoceanography of Lomonosov Ridge and a tie to the Barents shelf Bedrock cores from 89° North: Implications for the geologic framework and Neogene paleoceanography of Lomonosov Ridge and a tie to the Barents shelf
Two piston cores from the Eurasian flank of Lomonosov Ridge near lat 88.9°N, long 140°E provide the first samples of bedrock from this high-standing trans-Arctic ridge. Core 94-PC27 sampled nonmarine siltstone similar in facies and age to uppermost Triassic to lower Lower Jurassic and mid– Lower Cretaceous beds in the 4 to > 5 km Mesozoic section on Franz Josef Land, on the outer Barents...
Authors
Arthur Grantz, Victoria L. Pease, Debra A. Willard, R. L. Phillips, David L. Clark
Pollen assemblages as paleoenvironmental proxies in the Florida Everglades Pollen assemblages as paleoenvironmental proxies in the Florida Everglades
Analysis of 170 pollen assemblages from surface samples in eight vegetation types in the Florida Everglades indicates that these wetland sub-environments are distinguishable from the pollen record and that they are useful proxies for hydrologic and edaphic parameters. Vegetation types sampled include sawgrass marshes, cattail marshes, sloughs with floating aquatics, wet prairies...
Authors
Debra A. Willard, L. M. Weimer, W.L. Riegel
*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