Jennifer L Graham, Ph.D.
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. She is a nationally recognized expert in cyanobacteria and associated toxins and taste-and-odor compounds. For almost 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...
Cyanotoxin occurrence in large rivers of the United States
Cyanotoxins occur in rivers worldwide but are understudied in lotic ecosystems relative to lakes and reservoirs. Eleven large river sites located throughout the United States were sampled during June–September 2017 to determine the occurrence of cyanobacteria with known cyanotoxin-producing strains, cyanotoxin synthetase genes, and cyanotoxins....
Graham, Jennifer L.; Dubrovsky, Neil; Foster, Guy; Lindsey R. King; Loftin, Keith; Rosen, Barry; Stelzer, Erin
Spatial and temporal variability of harmful algal blooms in Milford Lake, Kansas, May through November 2016
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), completed a study to quantify the spatial and temporal variability of cyanobacterial blooms in Milford Lake, Kansas, over a range of environmental conditions at various time scales (hours to months). A better understanding of the spatial and...
Foster, Guy M.; Graham, Jennifer L.; King, Lindsey R.
Understanding the effect of salinity tolerance on cyanobacteria associated with a harmful algal bloom in Lake Okeechobee, Florida
In an effort to simulate the survival of cyanobacteria asthey are transported from Lake Okeechobee to the estuarinehabitats that receive waters from the lake, a bioassayencompassing a range of salinities was performed. An overalldecline in cyanobacteria health in salinity treatments greaterthan 18 practical salinity units (psu) was indicated by...
Rosen, Barry H.; Loftin, Keith A.; Graham, Jennifer L.; Stahlhut, Katherine N.; Riley, James M.; Johnston, Brett D.; Senegal, Sarena
Water-quality conditions with an emphasis on cyanobacteria and associated toxins and taste-and-odor compounds in the Kansas River, Kansas, July 2012 through September 2016
Cyanobacteria cause a multitude of water-quality concerns, including the potential to produce toxins and taste-and-odor compounds that may cause substantial economic and public health concerns, and are of particular interest in lakes, reservoirs, and rivers that are used for drinking-water supply. Extensive cyanobacterial blooms typically do not...
Graham, Jennifer L.; Foster, Guy M.; Williams, Thomas J.; Mahoney, Matthew D.; May, Madison R.; Loftin, Keith A. Book review: Handbook of cyanobacterial monitoring and cyanotoxin analysis
Review of Meriluoto, Jussi, Lisa Spoof, and GeoffreyA. Codd [eds.]. 2017. Handbook of Cyanobacterial Monitoring and Cyanotoxin Analysis. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.: Chichester, West Sussex, UK, ISBN 978‐1‐119‐06868‐6 (978‐1‐119‐06876‐1 eBook), DOI 10.1002/9781119068761.
Graham, Jennifer L.; Loftin, Keith A.
Occurrence of cyanobacteria, microcystin, and taste-and-odor compounds in Cheney Reservoir, Kansas, 2001-16
Cheney Reservoir, located in south-central Kansas, is one of the primary drinking-water supplies for the city of Wichita and an important recreational resource. Since 1990, cyanobacterial blooms have been present occasionally in Cheney Reservoir, resulting in increased treatment costs and decreased recreational use. Cyanobacteria, the cyanotoxin...
Graham, Jennifer L.; Foster, Guy M.; Williams, Thomas J.; Kramer, Ariele R.; Harris, Theodore D. Predicting cyanobacterial abundance, microcystin, and geosmin in a eutrophic drinking-water reservoir using a 14-year dataset
Cyanobacterial blooms degrade water quality in drinking water supply reservoirs by producing toxic and taste-and-odor causing secondary metabolites, which ultimately cause public health concerns and lead to increased treatment costs for water utilities. There have been numerous attempts to create models that predict cyanobacteria and their...
Harris, Ted D.; Graham, Jennifer L.
Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms and U.S. Geological Survey science capabilities
Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (CyanoHABs) are increasingly a global concern because CyanoHABs pose a threat to human and aquatic ecosystem health and cause economic damages. Despite advances in scientific understanding of cyanobacteria and associated compounds, many unanswered questions remain about occurrence, environmental triggers for...
Graham, Jennifer L.; Dubrovsky, Neil M.; Eberts, Sandra M. Estimating microcystin levels at recreational sites in western Lake Erie and Ohio
Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cyanoHABs) and associated toxins, such as microcystin, are a major global water-quality issue. Water-resource managers need tools to quickly predict when and where toxin-producing cyanoHABs will occur. This could be done by using site-specific models that estimate the potential for elevated toxin concentrations...
Francy, Donna S.; Brady, Amie M.G.; Ecker, Christopher D.; Graham, Jennifer L.; Stelzer, Erin A.; Struffolino, Pamela; Loftin, Keith A.
Sediment oxygen demand in eastern Kansas streams, 2014 and 2015
Dissolved oxygen concentrations in streams are affected by physical, chemical, and biological factors in the water column and streambed, and are an important factor for the survival of aquatic organisms. Sediment oxygen demand (SOD) rates in Kansas streams are not well understood. During 2014 and 2015, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation...
Foster, Guy M.; King, Lindsey R.; Graham, Jennifer L. Elucidation of taste- and odor-producing bacteria and toxigenic cyanobacteria in a Midwestern drinking water supply reservoir by shotgun metagenomics analysis
While commonplace in clinical settings, DNA-based assays for identification or enumeration of drinking water pathogens and other biological contaminants remain widely unadopted by the monitoring community. In this study, shotgun metagenomics was used to identify taste-and-odor producers and toxin-producing cyanobacteria over a 2-year period in a...
Otten, Timothy; Graham, Jennifer L.; Harris, Theodore D.; Dreher, Theo Cyanotoxins in inland lakes of the United States: Occurrence and potential recreational health risks in the EPA National Lakes Assessment 2007
A large nation-wide survey of cyanotoxins (1161 lakes) in the United States (U.S.) was conducted during the EPA National Lakes Assessment 2007. Cyanotoxin data were compared with cyanobacteria abundance- and chlorophyll-based World Health Organization (WHO) thresholds and mouse toxicity data to evaluate potential recreational risks....
Loftin, Keith A.; Graham, Jennifer L.; Elizabeth Hilborn; Sarah Lehmann; Meyer, Michael T.; Dietze, Julie E.; Griffith, Christopher
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