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Donald O Rosenberry

Donald Rosenberry is a Research Hydrologist for the USGS Water Resources Mission Area.

Don is a research hydrologist with the Earth Surface Processes Division specializing in wetland hydrology, water budgets of lakes and wetlands, and hyporheic processes. Research is focused at the sediment-water interface with an emphasis on understanding processes that control exchanges between groundwater and surface water. Don also is the coordinator of the Shingobee Headwaters Aquatic Ecosystem Project where scientists from USGS and academia work together to study physical, chemical, and biological processes of lakes, wetlands, and streams at a small-watershed scale. Don's interests in groundwater, surface water, and the dynamic sediment-water interface stem from his formative years at Bemidji State University (next to Lake Bemidji), the University of Minnesota (on the banks of the Mississippi River), and the University of Colorado (through which Boulder Creek flows).

Education

  • University of Colorado, Boulder. Geography/Geomorphology, Ph.D. 2007
  • University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Hydrogeology, M.S. 1985
  • Bemidji State University, Bemidji, MN. Geology/Geography, B.S. 1981

Employment

  • 2007-present: USGS, Lead Scientist, Hydrogeology of lakes, wetlands, and streams
  • 1985-2007: USGS, Staff research hydrologist, Hydrology of lakes and wetlands
  • 1982-1985: USGS, Hydrologic technician
  • 1981-1982: Continental Laboratories, Hydrocarbon well analyst, Billings, MT

Current Research Topics

  • Ground-water surface-water exchange in hyporheic settings (CA, CO, MA, MN, PA)
  • Significance of ground-water discharge to nutrient loading (MN, WA)
  • Significance of ground water to water supply (CA, MN, NM)
  • Relating geophysics and seepage along shoreline margins (NH, WA)
  • Decadal-scale hydrology of lakes and wetlands (MT, ND, MN, NH)

Professional and Society Activity

  • American Geophysical Union
  • Geological Society of America
  • Society of Wetland Scientists
  • Minnesota Ground Water Association

Current Editorships

Editorial Board, Hydrological Processes (2014-present)

Awards, Recognitions

  • Keynote Address, Minnesota Ground Water Association annual conference (2003, 2009)
  • Keynote Address, Canadian Geophysical Union annual conference (2005)
  • Elected Fellow of Geological Society of America (2008)
  • Keynote Address, Idaho Department of Environmental Quality 21st Annual Water Quality Workshop, February 2011
  • Keynote Address, Alabama Department of Environmental Management 12th Annual Groundwater Conference, June 2012
  • Moos Family lecturer, Freshwater Society, June 2013
  • Meinzer Award, Geological Society of America Hydrogeology Division (2017)

  

Science and Products

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A boat docked near the Shingobee Headwaters research station.

Shingobee Headwaters Aquatic Ecosystems Project (SHAEP)

The Shingobee Headwaters Aquatic Ecosystems Project (SHAEP) brings together scientists from the USGS along with students and professors from universities in Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and California for a unique study opportunity. This diverse group of scientists research the physical, chemical, and biological processes of lakes, wetlands, and streams at local and watershed scales.
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Water Resources
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Shingobee Headwaters Aquatic Ecosystems Project (SHAEP)

The Shingobee Headwaters Aquatic Ecosystems Project (SHAEP) brings together scientists from the USGS along with students and professors from universities in Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and California for a unique study opportunity. This diverse group of scientists research the physical, chemical, and biological processes of lakes, wetlands, and streams at local and watershed scales.
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USGS science for a changing world logo

North American Analysis and Synthesis on the Connectivity of "Geographically Isolated Wetlands" to Downstream Waters

Geographically Isolated Wetlands (GIWs) occur along gradients of hydrologic and ecological connectivity and isolation, even within wetland types (e.g., forested, emergent marshes) and functional classes (e.g., ephemeral systems, permanent systems, etc.). Within a given watershed, the relative positions of wetlands and open-waters along these gradients influence the type and magnitude of their che
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John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis
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North American Analysis and Synthesis on the Connectivity of "Geographically Isolated Wetlands" to Downstream Waters

Geographically Isolated Wetlands (GIWs) occur along gradients of hydrologic and ecological connectivity and isolation, even within wetland types (e.g., forested, emergent marshes) and functional classes (e.g., ephemeral systems, permanent systems, etc.). Within a given watershed, the relative positions of wetlands and open-waters along these gradients influence the type and magnitude of their che
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Measurement of seepage at Newtown Creek, NY, May-June 2015

Rates of flow across the sediment-water interface (seepage), measured every 5 seconds with an automated seepage meter and summarized every minute with a digital datalogger, are presented for 17 measurement locations at Newtown Creek, NY. Final values are presented in cm/day. An electromagnetic seepage meter, custom made for USGS by Quantum Engineering, was capable of measuring seepage averaged eac

Seepage meter efficiency in highly permeable settings source data (2020)

Efficiency of seepage meters, long considered a fixed property associated with the meter design, is not constant in highly permeable sediments. Instead, results from this study indicate that efficiency varies substantially with seepage-bag fullness, duration of bag attachment, depth of meter insertion into the sediments, and seepage velocity. Efficiency also varies substantially in response to var
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Water Resources

Long-term hydrological and biological data from Williams and Shingobee Lakes, north-central Minnesota

The Shingobee Headwaters Aquatic Ecosystem Project is a long-term, multi-disciplinary monitoring and research study of a 28-square-kilometer headwaters watershed in north-central Minnesota that began in 1978. Emphasis is on processes related to hydrology, limnology, geochemistry, and watershed ecology and the land-water and atmosphere-water interfaces. Lakes are a substantial focus and integrator
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Water Resources

Cottonwood Lake Study Area - Groundwater Elevations

Elevation (masl) of groundwater as measured from wells at the USGS Cottonwood Lake Study Area in North Dakota, 1978-2017.
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Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
Filter Total Items: 131

Hydraulic conductivity can no longer be considered a fixed property when quantifying flow between groundwater and surface water

No abstract available.
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Water Resources

Variable seepage meter efficiency in high-permeability settings

The efficiency of seepage meters, long considered a fixed property associated with the meter design, is not constant in highly permeable sediments. Instead, efficiency varies substantially with seepage bag fullness, duration of bag attachment, depth of meter insertion into the sediments, and seepage velocity. Tests conducted in a seepage test tank filled with isotropic sand with a hydraulic conduc
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Water Resources

Groundwater and surface water: What, they’re actually connected?

No abstract available.
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Water Resources

Who knew that quantifying exchanges between groundwater and surface water could be so exciting?

No abstract available.
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Water Resources

Prioritizing river basins for intensive monitoring and assessment by the US Geological Survey

The US Geological Survey (USGS) is currently (2020) integrating its water science programs to better address the nation’s greatest water resource challenges now and into the future. This integration will rely, in part, on data from 10 or more intensively monitored river basins from across the USA. A team of USGS scientists was convened to develop a systematic, quantitative approach to prioritize c
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Water Resources

History and evolution of seepage meters for quantifying flow between groundwater and surface water: Part 1 – Freshwater settings

More than 75 years after its introduction, the seepage meter remains the only device for directly quantifying exchange across the sediment-water interface between groundwater and surface water. This device, first presented in the literature in the 1940s, has been in a state of near-constant improvement and design change, necessitating a review of the history and evolution of the device and a desc
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Water Resources

A hydrologic landscapes perspective on groundwater connectivity of depressional wetlands

Research into processes governing the hydrologic connectivity of depressional wetlands has advanced rapidly in recent years. Nevertheless, a need persists for broadly applicable, non-site-specific guidance to facilitate further research. Here, we explicitly use the hydrologic landscapes theoretical framework to develop broadly applicable conceptual knowledge of depressional-wetland hydrologic conn
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Water Resources, John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis

Linkages between hydrology and seasonal variations of nutrients and periphyton in a large oligotrophic subalpine lake

Periphyton is important to lake ecosystems, contributing to primary production, nutrient cycling, and benthic metabolism. Increases in periphyton growth in lakes can be indicative of changes in water quality, shifts in ecosystem structure, and increases in nutrient fluxes. In oligotrophic lakes, conservationists are interested in characterizing the influence of hydrological drivers on excessive pe
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Water Resources, Nevada Water Science Center

Hydrogeochemical controls on brook trout spawning habitats in a coastal stream

Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) spawn in fall and overwintering egg development can benefit from stable, relatively warm temperatures in groundwater-seepage zones. However, eggs are also sensitive to dissolved oxygen concentration, which may be reduced in discharging groundwater (i.e., seepage). We investigated a 2 km reach of the coastal Quashnet River in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA, to rela
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Water Resources, Toxic Substances Hydrology, New England Water Science Center

Long-term changes in pond permanence, size, and salinity in Prairie Pothole Region wetlands: The role of groundwater-pond interaction

Study RegionCottonwood Lake area wetlands, North Dakota, U.S.A.Study FocusFluctuations in pond permanence, size, and salinity are key features of prairie-pothole wetlands that provide a variety of wetland habitats for waterfowl in the northern prairie of North America. Observation of water-level and salinity fluctuations in a semi-permanent wetland pond over a 20-year period, included periods when
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Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program

Accommodating state shifts within the conceptual framework of the wetland continuum

The Wetland Continuum is a conceptual framework that facilitates the interpretation of biological studies of wetland ecosystems. Recently summarized evidence documenting how a multi-decadal wet period has influenced aspects of wetland, lake and stream systems in the southern prairie-pothole region of North America has revealed the potential for wetlands to shift among alternate states. We propose
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Ecosystems, Climate Research and Development Program, Land Change Science Program, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Accommodating state shifts within the conceptual framework of the wetland continuum

The Wetland Continuum is a conceptual framework that facilitates the interpretation of biological studies of wetland ecosystems. Recently summarized evidence documenting how a multi-decadal wet period has influenced aspects of wetland, lake and stream systems in the southern prairie-pothole region of North America has revealed the potential for wetlands to shift among alternate states. We propose
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Ecosystems, Climate Research and Development Program, Land Change Science Program, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

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