USGS scientists climb on boulders of the jetty to collect blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) from the surf of the Atlantic Ocean.
Heather Heckathorn
Heather is the Water Quality Specialist for the USGS NJ Water Science Center. Heather's career with the U.S. Geological Survey New Jersey Water Science Center began in 2000 after studying at the University of Pittsburgh and Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania.
Her career with the USGS has focused on the water quality of groundwater and surface water. In support of New Jersey’s extensive water-quality networks, Heather has worked to ensure these networks of long-term discrete data and long-term continuous water-quality monitors are maintained with a high standard of efficiency, quality, and impartiality producing unbiased, high-quality data for water-quality investigations.
Recent investigations include determining variations of concentrations of water-quality constituents throughout New Jersey, Sediment Oxygen Demand, antibiotic resistance, assessments of nutrient loads, and monitoring harmful algal blooms in lakes and reservoirs. She helps guide the focus of several hydrographers and advises on best practices for superior data collection, review, and publication of water-quality data.
Her current interests include monitoring and assessing contaminants of emerging concern including, but not limited, to microplastics, PFAS, and harmful algal blooms and using novel approaches to monitor a variety of water-quality characteristics.
Science and Products
Monitoring Harmful Algal Blooms in a Coastal System to Identify the Factors that Affect HAB Production and the Downstream Transport of Cyanobacteria and Associated Cyanotoxins from Freshwater to Marine Environments
Across the nation, Ccyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (HABs) in freshwater coastal lakes and ponds have become a major environmental and public health concern. Under the right conditions, cyanobacteria can produce cyanotoxins that can pose health risks to both animals and humans (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), 2020) and have been shown to have severe impacts on water quality...
An Evaluation of SPATT Technology to Assess Cyanotoxins Variability and Transport in the Salem River, New Jersey
As part of the USGS Next Generation Water Observing System the NJWSC is evaluating the use of passive samplers, or Solid Phase Adsorption Toxin Tracking (SPATT) samplers, to examine the temporal variability of dissolved cyanotoxin occurrence. These innovative, low-cost, time-integrated passive samplers offer several advantages over current water-column cyanotoxin monitoring techniques. However...
Downstream Fate and Transport of Cyanobacteria and Cyanotoxins in the Raritan Basin Water Supply Complex, New Jersey
Harmful algal blooms with cyanotoxin production (CyanoHABs) have been shown to adversely affect water resources worldwide, however only a handful of studies have examined the occurrence and persistence of CyanoHABs in fluvial systems used for municipal water-supply. Of particular concern in New Jersey is the Raritan Basin Water Supply Complex (RBWSC) as it is the water supply for multiple water...
Diurnal variations in water quality at surface-water-quality stations
Two primary causes of diurnal variations in dissolved-oxygen concentration (DO), pH, and specific conductance are photosynthesis and aerobic respiration. Photosynthesis is driven by sunlight and produces free oxygen, which causes an increase in DO during the day. Algal, microbial, and plant respiration consumes free oxygen, which causes a decrease in DO, and releases carbon dioxide during the...
New Jersey Ambient Surface-Water-Quality Monitoring Network
The USGS New Jersey Water Science Center, in cooperation with the NJ Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), New Jersey Water Supply Authority, and the Delaware River Basin Commission, maintain the New Jersey Ambient Surface-Water-Quality Monitoring Network (ASWQMN) — a collection of monitoring stations on streams throughout New Jersey. Constituent concentration data from the ASWQMN are...
New Jersey Ambient Groundwater-Quality Monitoring Network
The USGS, in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, New Jersey Geological and Water Survey, Ambient Groundwater-Quality Monitoring Network (AGWQMN), which is designed to characterize the status of groundwater quality at or near the water table as a function of land use. Shallow groundwater is generally the first and most significantly affected part of the...
Ocean Sample Collection
USGS scientists climb on boulders of the jetty to collect blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) from the surf of the Atlantic Ocean.
Sampling Hopatcong
USGS scientists Brad Bjorklund and Jon Cohl collect a water-quality sample at Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey, to monitor a harmful algal bloom on the lake.
USGS scientists Brad Bjorklund and Jon Cohl collect a water-quality sample at Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey, to monitor a harmful algal bloom on the lake.
Sediment Sample seperation
Scientist screening and seprating sediment sample for storage during a Post-Sandy sampling trip.
Scientist screening and seprating sediment sample for storage during a Post-Sandy sampling trip.
Sampling Sediment
Scientist retrieving sedimant from a ponar during Post-Sandy sampling
Scientist retrieving sedimant from a ponar during Post-Sandy sampling
Science and Products
- Publications
- Science
Monitoring Harmful Algal Blooms in a Coastal System to Identify the Factors that Affect HAB Production and the Downstream Transport of Cyanobacteria and Associated Cyanotoxins from Freshwater to Marine Environments
Across the nation, Ccyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (HABs) in freshwater coastal lakes and ponds have become a major environmental and public health concern. Under the right conditions, cyanobacteria can produce cyanotoxins that can pose health risks to both animals and humans (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), 2020) and have been shown to have severe impacts on water quality...An Evaluation of SPATT Technology to Assess Cyanotoxins Variability and Transport in the Salem River, New Jersey
As part of the USGS Next Generation Water Observing System the NJWSC is evaluating the use of passive samplers, or Solid Phase Adsorption Toxin Tracking (SPATT) samplers, to examine the temporal variability of dissolved cyanotoxin occurrence. These innovative, low-cost, time-integrated passive samplers offer several advantages over current water-column cyanotoxin monitoring techniques. However...Downstream Fate and Transport of Cyanobacteria and Cyanotoxins in the Raritan Basin Water Supply Complex, New Jersey
Harmful algal blooms with cyanotoxin production (CyanoHABs) have been shown to adversely affect water resources worldwide, however only a handful of studies have examined the occurrence and persistence of CyanoHABs in fluvial systems used for municipal water-supply. Of particular concern in New Jersey is the Raritan Basin Water Supply Complex (RBWSC) as it is the water supply for multiple water...Diurnal variations in water quality at surface-water-quality stations
Two primary causes of diurnal variations in dissolved-oxygen concentration (DO), pH, and specific conductance are photosynthesis and aerobic respiration. Photosynthesis is driven by sunlight and produces free oxygen, which causes an increase in DO during the day. Algal, microbial, and plant respiration consumes free oxygen, which causes a decrease in DO, and releases carbon dioxide during the...New Jersey Ambient Surface-Water-Quality Monitoring Network
The USGS New Jersey Water Science Center, in cooperation with the NJ Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), New Jersey Water Supply Authority, and the Delaware River Basin Commission, maintain the New Jersey Ambient Surface-Water-Quality Monitoring Network (ASWQMN) — a collection of monitoring stations on streams throughout New Jersey. Constituent concentration data from the ASWQMN are...New Jersey Ambient Groundwater-Quality Monitoring Network
The USGS, in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, New Jersey Geological and Water Survey, Ambient Groundwater-Quality Monitoring Network (AGWQMN), which is designed to characterize the status of groundwater quality at or near the water table as a function of land use. Shallow groundwater is generally the first and most significantly affected part of the... - Data
- Multimedia
Ocean Sample Collection
USGS scientists climb on boulders of the jetty to collect blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) from the surf of the Atlantic Ocean.
USGS scientists climb on boulders of the jetty to collect blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) from the surf of the Atlantic Ocean.
Sampling HopatcongUSGS scientists Brad Bjorklund and Jon Cohl collect a water-quality sample at Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey, to monitor a harmful algal bloom on the lake.
USGS scientists Brad Bjorklund and Jon Cohl collect a water-quality sample at Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey, to monitor a harmful algal bloom on the lake.
Sediment Sample seperationScientist screening and seprating sediment sample for storage during a Post-Sandy sampling trip.
Scientist screening and seprating sediment sample for storage during a Post-Sandy sampling trip.
Sampling SedimentScientist retrieving sedimant from a ponar during Post-Sandy sampling
Scientist retrieving sedimant from a ponar during Post-Sandy sampling
- News
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government