Jennifer L Graham, Ph.D.
Jennifer is a Research Hydrologist at the New York Water Science Center
Biography
Jennifer Graham currently serves as the harmful algal bloom coordinator for the USGS Water Mission Area. She also represents the USGS on the Interagency Working Group on Harmful Algal Blooms and Hypoxia. Jennifer began her career with the USGS in 1999 as a Volunteer for Science working on harmful algal blooms at the Columbia Environmental Research Center. She worked there as a volunteer until 2005, when she became a Hydrologist at the Kansas Water Science Center. Jennifer joined the New York Water Science Center in 2018. She is a nationally recognized expert in cyanobacteria and associated toxins and taste-and-odor compounds. For over two decades Jennifer has conducted research on the environmental factors influencing the occurrence of cyanotoxins in the United States. She has conducted both regional and single system studies at a variety of spatiotemporal scales.
The overarching theme of Jennifer’s research is the spatiotemporal distribution of algae and algal assemblages with respect to changing physical, chemical, and biological conditions in both lentic and lotic ecosystems. Focus areas currently include anthropogenic influences on algal production and community composition, environmental conditions leading to the development of harmful algal blooms, with an emphasis on cyanobacteria, the occurrence, fate, and transport of cyanobacterial toxins and taste-and-odor compounds, and the development of predictive models for the occurrence of cyanobacterial toxins and taste-and-odor compounds. She has a complimentary interest in evaluating and using leading-edge technology, such as continuous water-quality instrumentation and satellite imagery, to improve predictive capabilities for the onset, duration, and decline of harmful algal bloom events. Research efforts include partnerships within the USGS as well as with local, state, and federal agencies and universities.
Education:
PhD in Fisheries and Wildlife with a specialization in Limnology (2004) – University of Missouri, Columbia, MO
MS in Biology with a specialization in Aquatic Ecology (1998) – Southwest Missouri State University, Springfield, MO
BS in Environmental Science (1995) – Davis and Elkins College, Elkins, WV
Science and Products
NWQP Research on Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs)
Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are caused by a complex set of physical, chemical, biological, hydrological, and meteorological conditions. Many unanswered questions remain about occurrence, environmental triggers for toxicity, and the ability to predict the timing, duration, and toxicity of HABs.
Harmful Algal Bloom monitoring in the Finger Lakes region, New York
Background: Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are increasingly a global concern because they pose a threat to human and aquatic ecosystem health and cause economic damages. Cyanobacterial HABs (CyanoHABs) represent a substantial threat to drinking-water supplies, aquatic ecosystem health, and safe recreational uses of freshwater resources in New York. Toxins produced by some species of...
Toxins and Harmful Algal Blooms Science Team
The team develops advanced methods to study factors driving algal toxin production, how and where wildlife or humans are exposed to toxins, and ecotoxicology. That information is used to develop decision tools to understand if toxin exposure leads to adverse health effects in order to protect human and wildlife health....
Effects of Wastewater Discharge and Treatment Facility Upgrades on Environmental and Biological Conditions of Indian Creek, Johnson County, Kansas
The purpose of the study is to assess the effects of wastewater discharge and treatment facility upgrades on the environmental and biological conditions of Indian Creek, downstream from the Middle Basin wastewater treatment facility (WWTF). Streamflow, discrete and continuously measured stream-water chemistry, streambed-sediment chemistry, and habitat data will be used to: evaluate differences...
Cyanobacteria with the potential to produce toxins common in large U.S. rivers
Emerald-green harmful algal blooms (HABs) have become an all-too-familiar summertime sight in many U.S. lakes and reservoirs. A new USGS study reports that the cyanobacteria that cause HABs also occur in large rivers.
20 Years Researching Harmful Algal Blooms Supports Sustainable Water Supply in Wichita
Two decades of harmful algal bloom, nutrient and sediment research by the U.S. Geological Survey is helping to support Wichita’s long-term vision of a sustainable water supply into the future. Early warning indicators of harmful algal blooms have been developed for Cheney Reservoir, Kansas, according to a new USGS publication done in cooperation with the City of Wichita, Kansas.
The Science of Harmful Algal Blooms
Building knowledge to protect ecological and human health