Jennifer L Graham, Ph.D.
Jennifer is a Research Hydrologist at the New York Water Science Center
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.
Professional Experience
USGS as Research Hydrologist at the New York Water Science Center 2018-present.
USGS as a Hydrologist at the Kansas Water Science Center 2005-2018.
USGS as a Volunteer for Science working on harmful algal blooms at the Columbia Environmental Research Center 1999-2005.
Education and Certifications
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
BS in Environmental Science (1995) – Davis and Elkins College, Elkins, WV
Science and Products
Understanding the effect of salinity tolerance on cyanobacteria associated with a harmful algal bloom in Lake Okeechobee, Florida
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
Book review: Handbook of cyanobacterial monitoring and cyanotoxin analysis
Occurrence of cyanobacteria, microcystin, and taste-and-odor compounds in Cheney Reservoir, Kansas, 2001-16
Predicting cyanobacterial abundance, microcystin, and geosmin in a eutrophic drinking-water reservoir using a 14-year dataset
Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms and U.S. Geological Survey science capabilities
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 that cause public health concerns. With this study
Sediment oxygen demand in eastern Kansas streams, 2014 and 2015
Elucidation of taste- and odor-producing bacteria and toxigenic cyanobacteria in a Midwestern drinking water supply reservoir by shotgun metagenomics analysis
Cyanotoxins in inland lakes of the United States: Occurrence and potential recreational health risks in the EPA National Lakes Assessment 2007
Challenges for mapping cyanotoxin patterns from remote sensing of cyanobacteria
Seasonal patterns in carbon dioxide in 15 mid-continent (USA) reservoirs
Science and Products
Understanding the effect of salinity tolerance on cyanobacteria associated with a harmful algal bloom in Lake Okeechobee, Florida
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
Book review: Handbook of cyanobacterial monitoring and cyanotoxin analysis
Occurrence of cyanobacteria, microcystin, and taste-and-odor compounds in Cheney Reservoir, Kansas, 2001-16
Predicting cyanobacterial abundance, microcystin, and geosmin in a eutrophic drinking-water reservoir using a 14-year dataset
Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms and U.S. Geological Survey science capabilities
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 that cause public health concerns. With this study