Jacob Zwart
(He/him)Dr. Jacob Zwart (he/him) is a data scientist for the USGS Water Resources Mission Area.
Jacob Zwart works within the Data Science Branch of the Water Resources Mission Area to develop aquatic ecosystem modeling techniques that provide timely information to stakeholders about important water resources across the nation. He uses his expertise in computational modeling, data assimilation, and limnology to help produce short-term forecasts of water quality at regional scales to aid in water resources decision making. Jacob’s research themes are: 1) improve understanding of aquatic biogeochemical processes and predicting how these processes may respond to future global change, 2) develop techniques to inject scientific knowledge into machine learning models to make accurate predictions of environmental variables (also known as “knowledge-guided machine learning”), and 3) advance methods for assimilating real-time observations into knowledge-guided machine learning models to improve near-term forecasts of water quality. Jacob also serves as a Peer Support Worker at USGS promoting awareness and education on topics and USGS policies for antiharassment, discrimination, biases, and scientific integrity, as well as providing peer-to-peer support for USGS employees.
Professional Experience
2021 – present: Data Scientist, Integrated Information Dissemination Division
2019 – 2021: Mendenhall Postdoctoral Fellow, Integrated Information Dissemination Division
2017 – 2019: National Science Foundation Earth Sciences Postdoctoral Fellow, Integrated Information Dissemination Division
2014 – 2017: National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, University of Notre Dame
2012 – 2014: Research and Teaching Assistant, University of Notre Dame
Education and Certifications
Ph.D., Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, 2017
B.S., Biology, Calvin College, 2012
Honors and Awards
U.S. Geological Survey Mendenhall Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2019 – 2021
National Science Foundation Earth Sciences Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2017 – 2019
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, 2014 – 2017
University of Notre Dame Linked Experimental Ecosystem Facility Research Grant, 2017
Exceptional Promise in Graduate Research Award, Ecological Society of America Aquatic Ecology Section, 2015
University of Notre Dame Center for Aquatic Conservation Graduate Fellow, 2014
University of Notre Dame Environmental Research Center Graduate Research Fellowship, 2013 – 2015
University of Notre Dame Environmental Research Center Graduate Mentoring Fellowship, 2012
Science and Products
Integrating stream gage records, water presence observations, and models to improve hydrologic prediction in stream networks
Data release: early warning indicators for harmful algal bloom assessments in the Illinois River, 2013 - 2020
Predictions and supporting data for network-wide 7-day ahead forecasts of water temperature in the Delaware River Basin
National-scale, remotely sensed lake trophic status 1984-2020
Lake trophic status is a key water quality property that integrates a lake's physical, chemical, and biological processes. Despite the importance of trophic status as a gauge of lake water quality, standardized and machine readable observations are uncommon. Remote sensing presents an opportunity to detect and analyze lake trophic status with reproducible, robust methods across time and space.
Harmonized discrete and continuous water quality data in support of modeling harmful algal blooms in the Illinois River Basin, 2005 - 2020
Model predictions for heterogeneous stream-reservoir graph networks with data assimilation
Data to support near-term forecasts of stream temperature using process-guided deep learning and data assimilation
Multi-task Deep Learning for Water Temperature and Streamflow Prediction (ver. 1.1, June 2022)
Data to support water quality modeling efforts in the Delaware River Basin
Lake Biogeochemical Model Output for One Retrospective and 12 Future Climate Runs in Northern Wisconsin & Michigan, USA
Predicting water temperature in the Delaware River Basin
Data release: Process-based predictions of lake water temperature in the Midwest US
Near-term ecological forecasting for climate change action
The 2024 “Hacking Limnology” Workshop Series and Virtual Summit: Increasing inclusion, participation, and representation in the aquatic sciences
Human activities shape global patterns of decomposition rates in rivers
Evaluation of metrics and thresholds for use in national-scale river harmful algal bloom assessments
Fair graph learning using constraint-aware priority adjustment and graph masking in river networks
National-scale remotely sensed lake trophic state from 1984 through 2020
Response of lake metabolism to catchment inputs inferred using high-frequency lake and stream data from across the northern hemisphere
A synergistic future for AI and ecology
Evaluating deep learning architecture and data assimilation for improving water temperature forecasts at unmonitored locations
Near-term forecasts of stream temperature using deep learning and data assimilation in support of management decisions
Physics-guided recurrent neural networks for predicting lake water temperature
Physics-guided graph meta learning for predicting water temperature and streamflow in stream networks
Science and Products
Integrating stream gage records, water presence observations, and models to improve hydrologic prediction in stream networks
Data release: early warning indicators for harmful algal bloom assessments in the Illinois River, 2013 - 2020
Predictions and supporting data for network-wide 7-day ahead forecasts of water temperature in the Delaware River Basin
National-scale, remotely sensed lake trophic status 1984-2020
Lake trophic status is a key water quality property that integrates a lake's physical, chemical, and biological processes. Despite the importance of trophic status as a gauge of lake water quality, standardized and machine readable observations are uncommon. Remote sensing presents an opportunity to detect and analyze lake trophic status with reproducible, robust methods across time and space.