Read, EK, V Patil, S Oliver, A Hetherington, J Brentrup, J Zwart, K Winters, J Corman, E Nodine, IR Woolway, H Dugan, A Jaimes, A Santoso, G Hong, LA Winslow, PC Hanson, KC Weathers. 2015. The importance of lake-specific characteristics for water quality across the continental US. Ecological Applications, 25(4), 943-955. [Link]
Emily K Read, Ph.D.
Dr. Emily K. Read is the Chief of Web Communications for the United States Geological Survey Water Resources Mission.
Biography
As Web Communications Branch Chief, Emily is responsible for the digital delivery of water data and information in accessible, discoverable, and interoperable formats. Emily oversees the digital marketing and promotion of USGS Water science and educational resources. Emily earned a B.S. from the University of Arizona, a M.S. from Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs, and a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Wisconsin- Madison. After completing her dissertation, Emily was a postdoctoral associate at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, NY, and a Visiting Assistant Professor of Environmental Science at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY. At the U.S. Geological Survey, Emily is active in national-scale research on water quality, interactive data visualizations for water, and the promotion of interdisciplinarity for addressing water resources issues. Emily previously served as Science Advisor for the U.S. Geological Survey Office of Water Information. Emily lives in Madison, WI with her family.
Education and Professional Appointments
- Chief, Web Communications Branch, United States Geological Survey, Water Mission Area, Middleton, WI. 2017 - present.
- Civil Engineer, United States Geological Survey Water Mission Area, Middleton, WI. 2014 - 2017.
- Postdoctoral Associate, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY. 2012 - 2014.
- Visiting Assistant Professor, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY. 2013.
- Doctor of Philosophy, Environmental Engineering, University of Wisconsin - Madison, WI. Thesis Advisor: Dr. Katherine D. McMahon. 2007 - 2012.
- Master of Science, Environmental Science, Indiana University - Bloomington, IN. 2005 - 2007.
- Bachelor of Science, Environmental Science, University of Arizona - Tucson, AZ. 2000 - 2004.
Related Activities and Service
- Duke University Internet of Water Advisory Group. 2018 - present.
- United States Geological Survey Water Availability and Use Science Program Leadership Team. 2018 - present.
- Aspen-Nicholas Water Forum Participant. 2017, 2018.
- Aspen-Nicholas Dialog on Sharing and Integrating Water Data for Sustainability Participant. 2016 - 2017.
- National Ecological Observatory Network - United States Geological Survey Powell Center Iterative Ecosystem Forecasting Working Group. 2016 - 2017.
- National Science Foundation grant reviewer for Hydrologic Sciences Program and Macrosystems Biology. 2016, 2018.
- Peer reviewer for Journal of Great Lakes Research, Science of the Total Environment, Journal of Geophysical Research Biosciences, Chemosphere, Environmental Science and Technology, Ecosphere, Environmental Modelling and Software, Science of the Total Environment, PLoS One, Water Research, and Hydrobiologia. 2007 - present.
- Associate Guest Editor for Ecological Applications. 2017.
- Grant award panelist for the United States Geological Survey Community for Data Integration. 2015
Awards and Recognition
- Recipient of the David T. McLaughlin Leadership Fund Scholarship. 2018
- Article selected as Featured Research: “Water quality data for national‐scale aquatic research: The Water Quality Portal” by E.K. Read et al. (2017) in Water Resources Research Journal; and top-ten most downloaded article in that journal for 2017.
- American Geophysical Union EOS Spotlight featuring article “Water quality data for national‐scale aquatic research: The Water Quality Portal” by E. K. Read et al. (2017).
- United States Geological Survey Shoemaker Award for External Communications Excellence Winner. 2016. Awarded to E.K. Read, J. Walker, A. Adams, D. Bunk, C. Touton, N. Booth, A. Appling, A. Butler, D. Button, A. Danner, M. Hines, D. Pearson, J. Read, I. Suftin, F. Thompson, J. Van Den Hoek, J. Vrabel, M. Wernimont, L. Winslow for Drought in the Colorado River Basin: Insights Using Open Data in the category of Internet Communications.
- National Science Foundation and Popular Science The Vizzies Visualization Challenge Finalist. 2015. Awarded to E.K. Read, M. Bucknell, M. Hines, J. Kreft, J. Lucido, J. Read, C. Schroedl, D. Sibley, S. Stephan, I. Suftin, P. Thongsavanh, J. Walker, M. Wernimont, L. Winslow, A. Yan for California Drought, Visualized with Open Data in the category of Games & Apps.
- Recipient of the Anna Grant Birge Memorial Award, University of Wisconsin. 2009, 2010, 2012.
- Recipient of the Becker Travel Grant, University of Wisconsin. 2009, 2010, 2011.
- Recipient of the Undergraduate Merit Scholarship, University of Arizona. 2000.
Science and Products
Year Published: 2018
Iterative near-term ecological forecasting: Needs, opportunities, and challenges
Two foundational questions about sustainability are “How are ecosystems and the services they provide going to change in the future?” and “How do human decisions affect these trajectories?” Answering these questions requires an ability to forecast ecological processes. Unfortunately, most ecological forecasts focus on centennial-scale climate...
Dietze, Michael C.; Fox, Andrew; Beck-Johnson, Lindsay; Betancourt, Julio L.; Hooten, Mevin B.; Jarnevich, Catherine S.; Keitt, Timothy H.; Kenney, Melissa A.; Laney, Christine M.; Larsen, Laurel G.; Loescher, Henry W.; Lunch, Claire K.; Pijanowski, Bryan; Randerson, James T.; Read, Emily; Tredennick, Andrew T.; Vargas, Rodrigo; Weathers, Kathleen C.; White, Ethan P.Attribution: John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis, Water Resources, , John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis
View Citation
Dietze M.C., A. Fox, J. Betancourt, M. Hooten, C. Jarnevich, T. Keitt, M. A. Kenney, C. Laney, L. Larsen, H. W. Loescher, C. Lunch, B. Pijanowski, J. T. Randerson, E. Read, A. Tredennick, K. C. Weathers, E. P. White. 2018. Iterative near-term ecological forecasting: Needs, opportunities, and challenges. PNAS Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1710231115.
Year Published: 2017
Water quality data for national-scale aquatic research: The Water Quality Portal
Aquatic systems are critical to food, security, and society. But, water data are collected by hundreds of research groups and organizations, many of which use nonstandard or inconsistent data descriptions and dissemination, and disparities across different types of water observation systems represent a major challenge for freshwater research. To...
Read, Emily K.; Carr, Lindsay; DeCicco, Laura A.; Dugan, Hilary; Hanson, Paul C.; Hart, Julia A.; Kreft, James; Read, Jordan S.; Winslow, Luke
Year Published: 2016
Consequences of gas flux model choice on the interpretation of metabolic balance across 15 lakes
Ecosystem metabolism and the contribution of carbon dioxide from lakes to the atmosphere can be estimated from free-water gas measurements through the use of mass balance models, which rely on a gas transfer coefficient (k) to model gas exchange with the atmosphere. Theoretical and empirically based models of krange in complexity from wind-...
Dugan, Hilary; Woolway, R. Iestyn; Santoso, Arianto; Corman, Jessica; Jaimes, Aline; Nodine, Emily; Patil, Vijay P.; Zwart, Jacob A.; Brentrup, Jennifer A.; Hetherington, Amy; Oliver, Samantha K.; Read, Jordan S.; Winters, Kirsten; Hanson, Paul; Read, Emily; Winslow, Luke; Weathers, Kathleen
Year Published: 2016
Generating community-built tools for data sharing and analysis in environmental networks
Rapid data growth in many environmental sectors has necessitated tools to manage and analyze these data. The development of tools often lags behind the proliferation of data, however, which may slow exploratory opportunities and scientific progress. The Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network (GLEON) collaborative model supports an efficient...
Read, Jordan S.; Gries, Corinna; Read, Emily K.; Klug, Jennifer; Hanson, Paul C.; Hipsey, Matthew R.; Jennings, Eleanor; O'Reilley, Catherine; Winslow, Luke A.; Pierson, Don; McBride, Christopher G.; Hamilton, David
Year Published: 2016
An analysis of water data systems to inform the Open Water Data Initiative
Improving access to data and fostering open exchange of water information is foundational to solving water resources issues. In this vein, the Department of the Interior's Assistant Secretary for Water and Science put forward the charge to undertake an Open Water Data Initiative (OWDI) that would prioritize and accelerate work toward better water...
Blodgett, David L.; Read, Emily K.; Lucido, Jessica M.; Slawecki, Tad; Young, Dwane
Year Published: 2016
Building the team for team science
The ability to effectively exchange information and develop trusting, collaborative relationships across disciplinary boundaries is essential for 21st century scientists charged with solving complex and large-scale societal and environmental challenges, yet these communication skills are rarely taught. Here, we describe an adaptable training...
Read, Emily K.; O'Rourke, M.; Hong, G. S.; Hanson, P. C.; Winslow, Luke A.; Crowley, S.; Brewer, C. A.; Weathers, K. C.View Citation
Read, E. K., M. O'Rourke, G. S. Hong, P. C. Hanson, L. A. Winslow, S. Crowley, C. A. Brewer and K. C. Weathers. 2016. Building the team for team science. Ecosphere 7(3):e01291.10.1002/ecs2.1291
Year Published: 2016
Iterative ecological forecasting: Needs, opportunities, and challenges
A fundamental environmental challenge facing humanity in the 21st century and beyond is predicting the impacts of global environmental change. This challenge is complicated by the fact that we live on a non-stationary, unreplicated planet that is rapidly moving outside the envelope of natural variability into an historical non-analog world. In...
Dietze, Michael C.; Fox, Andrew; Betancourt, Julio L.; Hooten, Mevin B.; Jarnevich, Catherine S.; Keitt, Tim H.; Kenney, Melissa; Laney, Christine; Larsen, Laurel; Loescher, Henry W.; Lunch, Claire; Pijanowski, Bryan; Randerson, James T.; Read, Emily; Tredennick, Andrew T.; Weathers, Kathleen; White, Ethan P.Attribution: Water Resources,
View Citation
Dietze M.C., A. Fox, J. Betancourt, M. Hooten, C. Jarnevich, T. Keitt, M. A. Kenney, C. Laney, L. Larsen, H. W. Loescher, C. Lunch, B. Pijanowski, J. T. Randerson, E. Read, A. Tredennick, K. C. Weathers, E. P. White. 2017. Iterative ecological forecasting: Needs, opportunities, and challenges. NEON Workshop Report. DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.4715317
Year Published: 2016
geoknife: Reproducible web-processing of large gridded datasets
Geoprocessing of large gridded data according to overlap with irregular landscape features is common to many large-scale ecological analyses. The geoknife R package was created to facilitate reproducible analyses of gridded datasets found on the U.S. Geological Survey Geo Data Portal web application or elsewhere, using a web-enabled workflow that...
Read, Jordan S.; Walker, Jordan I.; Appling, Alison P.; Blodgett, David L.; Read, Emily K.; Winslow, Luke A.View Citation
Read, J. S., Walker, J. I., Appling, A. P., Blodgett, D. L., Read, E. K. and Winslow, L. A. (2015), geoknife: reproducible web-processing of large gridded datasets. Ecography. doi: 10.1111/ecog.01880
Year Published: 2015
New insight into California’s drought through open data
Historically unprecedented drought in California has brought water issues to the forefront of the nation’s attention. Crucial investigations that concern water policy, management, and research, in turn, require extensive information about the quality and quantity of California’s water. Unfortunately, key sources of pertinent data are...
Read, Emily K.; Bucknell, Mary; Hines, Megan K.; Kreft, James M.; Lucido, Jessica M.; Read, Jordan S.; Schroedl, Carl; Sibley, David M.; Stephan, Shirley; Suftin, Ivan; Thongsavanh, Phethala; Van Den Hoek, Jamon; Walker, Jordan I.; Wernimont, Martin R; Winslow, Luke A.; Yan, Andrew N.
Year Published: 2015
A method for estimating the diffuse attenuation coefficient (KdPAR)from paired temperature sensors
A new method for estimating the diffuse attenuation coefficient for photosynthetically active radiation (KdPAR) from paired temperature sensors was derived. We show that during cases where the attenuation of penetrating shortwave solar radiation is the dominant source of temperature changes, time series measurements of water temperatures at...
Read, Jordan S.; Rose, Kevin C.; Winslow, Luke A.; Read, Emily K.View Citation
Read, Jordan S., Kevin C. Rose, Luke A. Winslow, and Emily K. Read. "A method for estimating the diffuse attenuation coefficient (KdPAR) from paired temperature sensors." Limnology and Oceanography: Methods 13, no. 2 (2015): 53-61.
Year Published: 2014
Improving the precision of lake ecosystem metabolism estimates by identifying predictors of model uncertainty
Diel changes in dissolved oxygen are often used to estimate gross primary production (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (ER) in aquatic ecosystems. Despite the widespread use of this approach to understand ecosystem metabolism, we are only beginning to understand the degree and underlying causes of uncertainty for metabolism model parameter estimates...
Rose, Kevin C.; Winslow, Luke A.; Read, Jordan S.; Read, Emily K.; Solomon, Christopher T.; Adrian, Rita; Hanson, Paul C.Attribution: Center for Integrated Data Analytics
View Citation
Improving the precision of lake ecosystem metabolism estimates by identifying predictors of model uncertainty; 2014; Article; Journal; Limnology and Oceanography: Methods; Rose, Kevin C.; Winslow, Luke A.; Read, Jordan S.; Read, Emily K.; Solomon, Christopher T.; Adrian, Rita; Hanson, Paul C.
Pre-USGS Publications
Cheruvelil KS, PA Soranno, KC Weathers, PC Hanson, SJ Goring, CT Filstrup, EK Read. 2014. Creating and maintaining high-performing collaborative research teams: the importance of diversity and interpersonal skills. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 12: 31-38. DOI: 10.1890/130001
Read EK, M Ivancic, PC Hanson, B Cade-Menun, and KD McMahon. 2014. Phosphorus speciation in a eutrophic lake by 31P NMR spectroscopy. Water Research. DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2014.06.005
McMahon KD and EK Read. 2013. Microbial contributions to phosphorus cycling in eutrophic lakes and wastewater. Annual Reviews: Microbiology. 67:199-219. DOI: 10.1146/annurev-micro-092412-155713
Kara, EL, C. Heimerl, T. Killpack, M. Van de Bogert, H. Yoshida, and S. R. Carpenter. 2012. Assessing a decade of phosphorus management in the Lake Mendota, Wisconsin watershed and scenarios for enhanced phosphorus management. Aquatic Sciences 74(2):241-253. DOI: 10.1007/s00027-011-0215-6
Carey CC, PC Hanson, DA Bruesewitz, GW Holtgrieve, EL Kara, KC Rose, RL Smyth, KC Weathers. 2012. Organized Oral Session 43: Novel Applications of High-Frequency Sensor Data in Aquatic Ecosystems: Discoveries from GLEON, the Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, 93, 100-105. DOI: 10.1890/0012-9623-93.1.100
Kara EL, PC Hanson, DP Hamilton, M Hipsey, KD McMahon, JS Read, LA Winslow, J Dedrick, KC Rose, CC Carey, S Bertilsson, D Motta-Marques, L Beversdorf, T Miller, CH Wu, YF Hsieh, E Gaiser, TK Kratz. 2012. Time-scale dependence in numerical simulations: Assessment of physical, chemical, and biological predictions in a stratified lake from scales of hours to months. Environmental Modelling and Software. 35: 104-121
Kara EL, LA Winslow, YH Hu, PC Hanson, and KD McMahon. 2012. A decade of seasonal dynamics and co-occurrences within freshwater bacterioplankton communities from Lake Mendota, WI, USA. ISME Journal 7(3): 680-684. DOI:10.1038/ismej.2012.118
Eutrophication processes and microbial ecology of Lake Mendota, Wisconsin
Kara, EL. 2012. "Eutrophication processes and microbial ecology of Lake Mendota, Wisconsin." PhD Dissertation, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dissertation Abstracts International 74.02.
Hanson PC, DP Hamilton, EH Stanley, N Preston, O Langman, EL Kara. 2011. Nature of the Load Versus Nature of the Lake in Determining the Fate of Allochthonous Dissolved Organic Carbon. PLoS ONE 6(7): e21884. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0021884
Kara EL and A Shade. 2009. Temporal dynamics of South End tidal creek bacterial communities, Sapelo Island, Georgia. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 75:1058-1064
Shade A, CC Carey, EL Kara, S Bertilsson, KD McMahon, and M Smith. 2009. Can the black box be cracked? The augmentation of microbial ecology with high-resolution, automated sensing technologies. ISME Journal. 3:881-888
Funneling: A Threat to Indiana’s Lakes
Kara EL. 2006. Funneling: A Threat to Indiana’s Lakes. Water Column, Vol.18 No.1: 1-2