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
Systematic variation in evapotranspiration trends and drivers across the Northeastern United States
Decreased atmospheric nitrogen deposition in eastern North America: Predicted responses of forest ecosystems
What goes up must come down: Integrating air and water quality monitoring for nutrients
Stability of mercury concentration measurements in archived soil and peat samples
Response of mercury in an Adirondack (NY, USA) forest stream to watershed lime application
Long-term changes in soil and stream chemistry across an acid deposition gradient in the northeastern United States
Results of the 2010-2011 East-Central Adirondack Stream Survey (ECASS)
The response of soil and stream chemistry to decreases in acid deposition in the Catskill Mountains, New York, USA
Variation in fish mercury concentrations in streams of the Adirondack region, New York: A simplified screening approach using chemical metrics
Modeled ecohydrological responses to climate change at seven small watersheds in the northeastern United States
Spatial and temporal patterns of dissolved organic matter quantity and quality in the Mississippi River Basin, 1997–2013
Patterns of diel variation in nitrate concentrations in the Potomac River
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
Systematic variation in evapotranspiration trends and drivers across the Northeastern United States
Decreased atmospheric nitrogen deposition in eastern North America: Predicted responses of forest ecosystems
What goes up must come down: Integrating air and water quality monitoring for nutrients
Stability of mercury concentration measurements in archived soil and peat samples
Response of mercury in an Adirondack (NY, USA) forest stream to watershed lime application
Long-term changes in soil and stream chemistry across an acid deposition gradient in the northeastern United States
Results of the 2010-2011 East-Central Adirondack Stream Survey (ECASS)
The response of soil and stream chemistry to decreases in acid deposition in the Catskill Mountains, New York, USA
Variation in fish mercury concentrations in streams of the Adirondack region, New York: A simplified screening approach using chemical metrics
Modeled ecohydrological responses to climate change at seven small watersheds in the northeastern United States
Spatial and temporal patterns of dissolved organic matter quantity and quality in the Mississippi River Basin, 1997–2013
Patterns of diel variation in nitrate concentrations in the Potomac River
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.