Donald O Rosenberry
Biography
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
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....
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...
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...
Rosenberry, Donald O.; Nieto-Lopez, Jose M; Webb, Richard M.; Muller, Sascha Groundwater and surface water: What, they’re actually connected?
How did Wetland Science develop and become a discipline of its own? This relatively new field of scientific inquiry began taking shape in about 1980 when the Society of Wetland Scientists was formed. However, many academic, government, and consulting scientists had been in the field under different names for decades. “History of Wetland Science:...
Rosenberry, Donald O. 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...
Van Metre, Peter C.; Qi, Sharon L.; Deacon, Jeffrey R.; Dieter, Cheryl A.; Driscoll, Jessica M.; Fienen, Michael N.; Kenney, Terry A.; Lambert, Patrick M.; Lesmes, David; Mason, Christopher Allen; Mueller-Solger, Anke; Musgrove, MaryLynn; Painter, Jaime A.; Rosenberry, Donald O.; Sprague, Lori A.; Tesoriero, Anthony J.; Windham-Myers, Lisamarie; Wolock, David M. 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...
Rosenberry, Donald O.; Duque, Carlos; Lee, David R. 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...
Neff, Brian P.; Rosenberry, Donald O.; Leibowitz, Scott G.; Mushet, David M.; Golden, Heather E.; Rains, Mark C.; Brooks, Renee; Lane, Charles R. 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...
Niswonger, Richard G.; Smith, David; Rosenberry, Donald O.; Sudeep Chandra; Naranjo, Ramon C.; Niswonger, Richard G.; Smith, David; Rosenberry, Donald O.; Chandra, Sudeep 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...
Briggs, Martin A.; Harvey, Judson W.; Hurley, Stephen T.; Rosenberry, Donald O.; McCobb, Timothy D.; Werkema, Dale D.; Lane, Jr., John W. 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...
LaBaugh, James W.; Rosenberry, Donald O.; Mushet, David M.; Neff, Brian; Nelson, Richard D.; Euliss, Ned H. 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...
Mushet, David M.; McKenna, Owen P.; LaBaugh, James W.; Euliss, Ned H.; Rosenberry, Donald O. Estimating wetland connectivity to streams in the Prairie Pothole Region: An isotopic and remote sensing approach
Understanding hydrologic connectivity between wetlands and perennial streams is critical to understanding the reliance of stream flow on inputs from wetlands. We used the isotopic evaporation signal in water and remote sensing to examine wetland‐stream hydrologic connectivity within the Pipestem Creek watershed, North Dakota, a watershed dominated...
Brooks, J. R.; Mushet, David M.; Vanderhoof, Melanie K.; Leibowitz, Scott G.; Christensen, J. R.; Neff, Brian; Rosenberry, Donald O.; Rugh, W. D.; Alexander, L.C. Groundwater connectivity of upland-embedded wetlands in the Prairie Pothole Region
Groundwater connections from upland-embedded wetlands to downstream waterbodies remain poorly understood. In principle, water from upland-embedded wetlands situated high in a landscape should flow via groundwater to waterbodies situated lower in the landscape. However, the degree of groundwater connectivity varies across systems due to factors...
Neff, Brian; Rosenberry, Donald O. Drought-induced recharge promotes long-term storage of porewater salinity beneath a prairie wetland
Subsurface storage of sulfate salts allows closed-basin wetlands in the semiarid Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North America to maintain moderate surface water salinity (total dissolved solids [TDS] from 1 to 10 g L−1), which provides critical habitat for communities of aquatic biota. However, it is unclear how the salinity of wetland ponds will...
Levy, Zeno F; Rosenberry, Donald O.; Moucha, Robert; Mushet, David M.; Goldhaber, Martin B.; LaBaugh, James W.; Fiorentino, Anthony J; Siegel, Donald I.