Douglas A Burns
Doug is a Research Hydrologist currently working as the Coordinator of the Delaware River Basin Next Generation Water Observing System (NGWOS).
Doug holds an M.S. in Environmental Sciences from the Univ. of Virginia, and a Ph.D. in Water Resources Management from the State Univ. of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry. His disciplinary background is primarily in biogeochemistry and hydrology with a focus on understanding the processes that control the cycling of chemical elements through watersheds and ecosystems. An emphasis on the cycling of atmopsheric pollutants and their environmental effects is noteworthy. He has worked as a Research Hydrologist in the New York Water Science Center since 1987 on studies that include the effects of acid rain on ecosystems, the cycling of nitrogen in watersheds, and environmental mercury cycling. His investigations have also included the environmental effects of landscape disturbance such as suburban land use, climate change, and forest harvesting. A recent interest is studying the effects of ongoing and future climate change on streamflow, with an emphasis on high flows. He works collaboratively, often with several investigators from the USGS, and other agencies and universities. Study approaches applied include monitoring of water and soil chemistry, quantifying the rates of key cycling processes, experimental manipulations of landscapes, use of natural and applied isotope tracers, and statistical and process-level models. He is also active in professional societies, has organized conferences at regional, national, and international levels, and has served in leadership roles in many organizations and agencies. Other activities include chairing a proposal evaluation panel for a federal agency, working at the science-policy interface by serving as Director of the National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program, and serving on an EPA Clean Air Act Advisory Panel, as well as serving on program evaluation and advisory panels for several agencies and science organizations.
more about Douglas A Burns
Science and Products
Total mercury, methylmercury, and selected elements in soils of the Fishing Brook watershed, Hamilton County, New York, and the McTier Creek watershed, Aiken County, South Carolina, 2008
Dual nitrate isotopes in dry deposition: Utility for partitioning NOx source contributions to landscape nitrogen deposition
How does landscape structure influence catchment transit time across different geomorphic provinces?
Sources and transformations of nitrate from streams draining varying land uses: Evidence from dual isotope analysis
Effects of forest harvesting on ecosystem health in the headwaters of the New York City Water Supply, Catskill Mountains, New York
Catchment data for process conceptualization: Simply not enough?
Nitrogen immobilization by wood-chip application: Protecting water quality in a northern hardwood forest
Changes in stream chemistry and biology in response to reduced levels of acid deposition during 1987-2003 in the Neversink River Basin, Catskill Mountains
Factors controlling nitrogen release from two forested catchments with contrasting hydrochemical responses
Factors controlling soil water and stream water aluminum concentrations after a clearcut in a forested watershed with calcium-poor soils
Recent climate trends and implications for water resources in the Catskill Mountain region, New York, USA
Nitrogen isotopes as indicators of NOx source contributions to atmospheric nitrate deposition across the midwestern and northeastern United States
Non-USGS Publications**
66. Burns, D.A., Lawrence, G.B., and Murdoch, P.S., 1998, Catskill streams still susceptible to acid rain, Northeastern Geology and Environmental Sciences, 20: 294-298.
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Science and Products
Total mercury, methylmercury, and selected elements in soils of the Fishing Brook watershed, Hamilton County, New York, and the McTier Creek watershed, Aiken County, South Carolina, 2008
Dual nitrate isotopes in dry deposition: Utility for partitioning NOx source contributions to landscape nitrogen deposition
How does landscape structure influence catchment transit time across different geomorphic provinces?
Sources and transformations of nitrate from streams draining varying land uses: Evidence from dual isotope analysis
Effects of forest harvesting on ecosystem health in the headwaters of the New York City Water Supply, Catskill Mountains, New York
Catchment data for process conceptualization: Simply not enough?
Nitrogen immobilization by wood-chip application: Protecting water quality in a northern hardwood forest
Changes in stream chemistry and biology in response to reduced levels of acid deposition during 1987-2003 in the Neversink River Basin, Catskill Mountains
Factors controlling nitrogen release from two forested catchments with contrasting hydrochemical responses
Factors controlling soil water and stream water aluminum concentrations after a clearcut in a forested watershed with calcium-poor soils
Recent climate trends and implications for water resources in the Catskill Mountain region, New York, USA
Nitrogen isotopes as indicators of NOx source contributions to atmospheric nitrate deposition across the midwestern and northeastern United States
Non-USGS Publications**
66. Burns, D.A., Lawrence, G.B., and Murdoch, P.S., 1998, Catskill streams still susceptible to acid rain, Northeastern Geology and Environmental Sciences, 20: 294-298.
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.