Jeni Keisman, Ph.D.
Biography
Since joining the USGS MD-DE-DC Water Science Center in 2014, Jeni has focused primarily on coordinating research to explain factors affecting trends in Chesapeake Bay water quality and habitat conditions. Prior experiences include a fellowship at the Department of Energy where she tackled projects related to the “Water-Energy Nexus”, a grantee position at the EPA analyzing attainment of Chesapeake Bay water quality standards, dissertation research on nutrient cycling under different tree species in temperate forests, and a stint in the private sector producing financial software to track corporate insider trading. Jeni holds a Ph.D. in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology from Princeton University, a M.S. in Sustainable Development & Conservation Biology from the University of Maryland, and a B.A. in History from St. Mary’s College of Maryland.
Science and Products
Chesapeake Science Partners Produce Tributary Summaries
Issue
The Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) partnership is striving to improve water-quality conditions in the Bay and its tidal waters. The partnership needs to understand water-quality conditions in different tributaries to help assess the influence of nutrient-reduction practices and progress toward attaining water-quality standards.
USGS leads STAC report on water clarity changes over the past 30 years in Chesapeake Bay
Water clarity is widely recognized as an important indicator of the health and trophic state of aquatic ecosystems and is a key management target given the limit it imposes on the growth of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV).
USGS science informs revised water-quality restoration plans for the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed
Science Summary
Nutrient trends and drivers in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
The Chesapeake Bay Program maintains an extensive nontidal monitoring network, measuring nitrogen and phosphorus (nutrients) at more than 100 locations on rivers and streams in the watershed. Data from these locations are used by United States Geological Survey to assess the ecosystem’s response to nutrient-reduction efforts. This fact sheet...
Hyer, Kenneth E.; Phillips, Scott W.; Ator, Scott W.; Moyer, Douglas L.; Webber, James S.; Felver, Rachel; Keisman, Jennifer L.; McDonnell, Lee A.; Murphy, Rebecca; Trentacoste, Emily M.; Zhang, Qian; Dennison, William C.; Swanson, Sky; Walsh, Brianne; Hawkey, Jane; Taillie, Dylan
Potomac tributary report: A summary of trends in tidal water quality and associated factors
The Potomac Tributary Report summarizes change over time in a suite of monitored tidal water quality parameters and associated potential drivers of those trends for the time period 1985 – 2018, and provides a brief description of the current state of knowledge explaining these observed changes. Water quality parameters described include surface...
Keisman, Jennifer L.; Murphy, Rebecca; Devereux, Olivia H.; Harcum, J.; Karrh, R.; Lane, M.; Perry, E.; Zhang, Qian; Wei, Zhaoying; Webber, James S.; Petenbrink, Meghan Nicole
Ecological forecasting—21st century science for 21st century management
Natural resource managers are coping with rapid changes in both environmental conditions and ecosystems. Enabled by recent advances in data collection and assimilation, short-term ecological forecasting may be a powerful tool to help resource managers anticipate impending near-term changes in ecosystem conditions or dynamics. Managers may use the...
Bradford, John B.; Weltzin, Jake; Mccormick, Molly; Baron, Jill; Bowen, Zack; Bristol, Sky; Carlisle, Daren; Crimmins, Theresa; Cross, Paul; DeVivo, Joe; Dietze, Mike; Freeman, Mary; Goldberg, Jason; Hooten, Mevin; Hsu, Leslie; Jenni, Karen; Keisman, Jennifer L.; Kennen, Jonathan; Lee, Kathy; Lesmes, David; Loftin, Keith; Miller, Brian W.; Murdoch, Peter S.; Newman, Jana; Prentice, Karen L.; Rangwala, Imtiaz; Read, Jordan; Sieracki, Jennifer; Sofaer, Helen; Thur, Steve; Toevs, Gordon; Werner, Francisco; White, C. LeAnn; White, Timothy; Wiltermuth, Mark Sediment dynamics and implications for management: State of the science from long‐term research in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, USA
This review aims to synthesize the current knowledge of sediment dynamics using insights from long‐term research conducted in the watershed draining to the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the U.S., to inform management actions to restore the estuary and its watershed. The sediment dynamics of the Chesapeake are typical of many impaired...
Noe, Gregory B.; Cashman, Matthew J.; Skalak, Katherine; Gellis, Allen; Hopkins, Kristina G.; Moyer, Douglas L.; Webber, James S.; Benthem, Adam; Maloney, Kelly O.; Brakebill, John; Sekellick, Andrew; Langland, Michael J.; Zhang, Qian; Shenk, Gary Wynee; Keisman, Jennifer L.D.; Hupp, Cliff R. Long-term annual aerial surveys of submersed aquatic vegetation (SAV) support science, management, and restoration
Aerial surveys of coastal habitats can uniquely inform the science and management of shallow, coastal zones, and when repeated annually, they reveal changes that are otherwise difficult to assess from ground-based surveys. This paper reviews the utility of a long-term (1984-present) annual aerial monitoring program for submersed aquatic vegetation...
Orth, Robert J.; Dennison, William C.; Gurbisz, Cassie; Hannam, Michael; Keisman, Jennifer L.; Landry, J. Brooke; Lefcheck, Jonathan S.; Moore, Kenneth A.; Murphy, Rebecca; Patrick, Christopher J.; Testa, Jeremy; Weller, Donald E.; Wilcox, David J.; Batiuk, Richard A. A Generalized Additive Model approach to evaluating water quality: Chesapeake Bay Case Study
Nutrient-reduction efforts have been undertaken in recent decades to mitigate the impacts of eutrophication in coastal and estuarine systems worldwide. To track progress in response to one of these efforts we use Generalized Additive Models (GAMs) to evaluate a diverse suite of water quality constituents over a 32-year period in the Chesapeake Bay...
Murphy, Rebecca; Perry, Elgin; Harcum, Jon; Keisman, Jennifer L.
Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Best Management Practice Implementation in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, 1985–2014
Efforts to restore water quality in Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries often include extensive Best Management Practice (BMP) implementation on agricultural and developed lands. These BMPs include a variety of methods to reduce nutrient and sediment loads, such as cover crops, conservation tillage, urban filtering systems, and other practices....
Sekellick, Andrew J.; Devereux, Olivia H.; Keisman, Jennifer L.D.; Sweeney, Jeffrey S.; Blomquist, Joel D.
Agricultural conservation practice implementation in the Chesapeake Bay watershed supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) provides cost-share funding and technical assistance to support the implementation of agricultural conservation practices on farms throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Conservation implementation has been substantial in the time period for which digital records are available (from 2007 through 2017)....
Hively, W. Dean; Devereux, Olivia H.; Keisman, Jennifer L.D.
Manure and fertilizer inputs to land in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, 1950–2012
Understanding changing nutrient concentrations in surface waters requires quantitative information on changing nutrient sources in contributing watersheds. For example, the proportion of nutrient inputs reaching streams and rivers is directly affected by when and where those nutrients enter the landscape. The goal of this report is to contribute...
Keisman, Jennifer L.; Devereux, Olivia H.; LaMotte, Andrew E.; Sekellick, Andrew J.; Blomquist, Joel D. Modeling drivers of phosphorus loads in Chesapeake Bay tributaries and inferences about long-term change
Causal attribution of changes in water quality often consists of correlation, qualitative reasoning, listing references to the work of others, or speculation. To better support statements of attribution for water-quality trends, structural equation modeling was used to model the causal factors of total phosphorus loads in the Chesapeake Bay...
Ryberg, Karen R.; Blomquist, Joel D.; Sprague, Lori A.; Sekellick, Andrew J.; Keisman, Jennifer L. Submersed aquatic vegetation in Chesapeake Bay: Sentinel species in a changing world
Chesapeake Bay has undergone profound changes since European settlement. Increases in human and livestock populations, associated changes in land use, increases in nutrient loadings, shoreline armoring, and depletion of fish stocks have altered the important habitats within the Bay. Submersed aquatic vegetation (SAV) is a critical foundational...
Orth, Robert J.; Dennison, William C.; Lefcheck, Jonathon S.; Gurbisz, Cassie; Hannam, Michael; Keisman, Jennifer L.; Landry, J. Brooke; Moore, Kenneth A.; Murphy, Rebecca; Patrick, Christopher J.; Testa, Jeremy; Weller, Donald E.; Wilcox, David J.