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
Acid rain and its environmental effects: Recent scientific advances
Regional meteorological drivers and long term trends of winter-spring nitrate dynamics across watersheds in northeastern North America
Approaches to stream solute load estimation for solutes with varying dynamics from five diverse small watershed
A new look at liming as an approach to accelerate recovery from acidic deposition effects
Hydraulic and biochemical gradients limit wetland mercury supply to an Adirondack stream
Mercury in fish and macroinvertebrates from New York's streams and rivers: A compendium of data sources
Development of flood regressions and climate change scenarios to explore estimates of future peak flows
Quantifying watershed-scale groundwater loading and in-stream fate of nitrate using high-frequency water quality data
Critical loads of atmospheric deposition to Adirondack lake watersheds: A guide for policymakers
Effects of harvesting forest biomass on water and climate regulation services: A synthesis of long-term ecosystem experiments in eastern North America
Estimates of natural streamflow at two streamgages on the Esopus Creek, New York, water years 1932 to 2012
The river as a chemostat: fresh perspectives on dissolved organic matter flowing down the river continuum
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
Acid rain and its environmental effects: Recent scientific advances
Regional meteorological drivers and long term trends of winter-spring nitrate dynamics across watersheds in northeastern North America
Approaches to stream solute load estimation for solutes with varying dynamics from five diverse small watershed
A new look at liming as an approach to accelerate recovery from acidic deposition effects
Hydraulic and biochemical gradients limit wetland mercury supply to an Adirondack stream
Mercury in fish and macroinvertebrates from New York's streams and rivers: A compendium of data sources
Development of flood regressions and climate change scenarios to explore estimates of future peak flows
Quantifying watershed-scale groundwater loading and in-stream fate of nitrate using high-frequency water quality data
Critical loads of atmospheric deposition to Adirondack lake watersheds: A guide for policymakers
Effects of harvesting forest biomass on water and climate regulation services: A synthesis of long-term ecosystem experiments in eastern North America
Estimates of natural streamflow at two streamgages on the Esopus Creek, New York, water years 1932 to 2012
The river as a chemostat: fresh perspectives on dissolved organic matter flowing down the river continuum
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.