Jenn Fair, PhD
Biography
Jenn Hoyle Fair is a catchment scientist and research hydrologist with a background in watershed management planning, hydrology and hydraulics of river restoration, and measurement and modeling of catchment nutrient and carbon fluxes. Fair is currently on reassignment to the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area (EMA) Leetown Science Center to work on the EcoDrought project. Currently stationed at the USGS S.O. Conte Anadromous Fish Research Laboratory, Fair is part of an interdisciplinary team of fish ecologists, fish biologists, and hydrologists working to better understand how extremes in stream flow, particularly droughts, control presence/absence and abundance of Eastern Brook Trout in headwater streams. In addition to the EcoDrought project, Fair is involved in ongoing projects at the New England Water Science Center to update low flow statistics for New England streams and construct online tools to aid in design of stream crossing infrastructure.
For her doctorate research at the Yale School of the Environment she focused on the hydrologic controls on dissolved organic carbon flux in the USGS Sleepers River Research Watershed in northeastern Vermont, USA. Fair has experience with design, installation, and maintenance of a network of in situ water quality sensors (including fDOM), correction and management of large timeseries of water quality and hydrology data, and programming of rainfall-runoff and solute transport models. Prior to graduate school Fair worked as a water resource engineer focused on drinking water supply protection.
Science and Products
Sleepers River Research Watershed
The Sleepers River Research Watershed in Danville, Vermont has been the site of active hydrologic research since 1959, when the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) established a research program in the watershed. The Sleepers River site is now operated by the USGS, in cooperation with several other Federal agencies and universities.
Drought and Ecological Flows
As part of the USGS Fisheries program, ecological flows, or the relationships between quality, quantity, and timing of water flows and ecological response of aquatic biota and ecosystems; and related ecosystem services are being investigated.
Silvio O. Conte Anadromous Fish Research Laboratory
S.O. Conte Anadromous Fish Research Laboratory (CAFRL), Turners Falls, Massachusetts, showing Fish Passage Flume Complex in foreground
About the Ecosystems Mission Area
The USGS is sought out by thousands of partners and stakeholders across the United States for our expertise in earth and biological science that supports public resources in wild and urban spaces, and all landscapes in-between.
Measuring stream flow
In this explorable interactive tool you will investigate a series of charts and sliders to explore how water level, water velocity, number of measurement points and stream channel shape influence stream flow. Great for use in the classroom, especially for student curious about coding.
Source switching maintains dissolved organic matter chemostasis across discharge levels in a large temperate river network
Dissolved organic matter (DOM) helps regulate aquatic ecosystem structure and function. In small streams, DOM concentrations are controlled by transport of terrestrial materials to waterways, and are thus highly variable. As rivers become larger, the River Continuum Concept hypothesizes that internal primary production is an increasingly important...
Hosen, J.D.; Aho, K.S.; Fair, Jennifer Burlingame Hoyle; Kyzivat, E.D.; Matt, S.; Morrison, Jonathan; Stubbins, A.; Weber, L.C.; Yoon, B.; Raymond, P.A. Enhancement of primary production during drought in a temperate watershed is greater in larger rivers than headwater streams
Drought is common in rivers, yet how this disturbance regulates metabolic activity across network scales is largely unknown. Drought often lowers gross primary production (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (ER) in small headwaters but by contrast can enhance GPP and cause algal blooms in downstream estuaries. We estimated ecosystem metabolism across...
Hosen, Jacob D.; Aho, Kelly S.; Appling, Alison P.; Creech, E.C.; Fair, Jennifer H; Hall, Robert O Jr.; Kyzivat, Ethan; Lowenthal, Rachel; Matt, Serena; Morrison, Jonathan; Saiers, James E.; Shanley, James B.; Weber, Lisa; Yoon, Bryan; Raymond, Peter A.