Joe Duris
Hi, I'm Joe Duris. I'm interested in microbial ecology and bacteria and their interactions with the environment. Have any questions, feel free to contact me.
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Joseph_Duris
Biography
Throughout my time at the USGS I have been actively involved in the Toxics Substances Hydrology program in evaluating the occurrence, fate, and transport of fecally-derived pathogens and antibiotic resistant bacteria. Currently, my research interests include understanding how human practices, including agriculture and urbanization, affect the occurrence, distribution, fate, and transport of nutrients, sediment, trace organic compounds, and pathogenic bacteria in surface water, and how trace contamination affects the microbial ecology of unique environments, especially as they relate to human and environmental health. I am currently active on the USGS team that is researching the formation and toxicity of cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms in the Great Lakes. For 2011-2016, I was the Michigan Water Science Center’s Water Quality Specialist where I helped develop larger monitoring programs and oversaw the study design, data quality, and reporting for several local and regional USGS water-quality studies around the state and region.
Early in my career I worked in a molecular biology lab developing and applying PCR, ELISA, and growth assays to detect fecally-derived bacterial pathogens in water, sediment, and manure from various sources (agricultural drainage, stream water, bed sediment, agricultural soil, manure, etc). These assays were applied to understand the relation between land-use and pathogenic bacteria in agricultural settings and to determine the relation of pathogens to trace-organic chemicals of emerging concern that co-occur in the environment. In the middle 2000s, I began working on National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Surface Water Status and Trends. During this time, I was involved in pilot studies evaluating the relation of mercury and antibiotic resistance, and assessing the status of a stream network for a variety of pesticides. Since then, I have worked with both organic and inorganic water chemistry and have lead or worked on multiple studies evaluating the correlation and effect of altered water chemistry on the number, type, and function of environmental and fecally-derived pathogenic bacteria.
I received my BS in Biomedical Science in 1998 and my MS in Biological Science in 2002 with a focus on Environmental Microbiology from Western Michigan University. I started my USGS career at the Michigan Water Science Center in Lansing, MI before moving to the Pennsylvania Water Science Center in 2016.
Science and Products
Pennsylvania and the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
USGS provides monitoring, analysis, modeling and research on streams and water quality to better understand the fate and transport of nutrients and sediment to the Susquehanna River and its tributaries and eventually to the Chesapeake Bay. Additional research efforts in the Susquehanna River basin focus on emerging contaminants and other stressors that effect human and aquatic life in the...
Pennsylvania Groundwater Quality Monitoring Network
USGS Pennsylvania Water Science Center, in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, samples 28 wells biannually to monitor ambient groundwater quality conditions throughout Pennsylvania.
Hydrologic and Water Quality Studies of PFAS in Pennsylvania
USGS is working with Federal, state, and local partners to monitor and evaluate perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in Pennsylvania's groundwater and surface waters.
The first-of-its-kind PFAS reconnaisence, in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, detected PFAS in Pennsylvania streams at 135 of 180 sampling locations; a subset of the...
Sediment and Stream Health - Pennsylvania
Sediment in streams, from land surface erosion in watersheds, is an important factor in determining the quality of Pennsylvania's surface waters and of downstream water bodies such as the Delaware Estuary and Chesapeake Bay. The USGS has a long-standing tradition of measuring suspended-sediment concentrations and estimating loads. Recent technological advances allow real-time estimates of...
Harmful Algal Blooms in Pennsylvania
The U.S. Geological Survey is collaborating with State and local partners to develop models that provide real-time estimates of Escherichia coli (E. coli) (for pathogens) and (or) microcystin (for freshwater cyanotoxins) levels at Great Lakes beaches and drinking-water intakes.
Pennsylvania Statewide Surface Water-Quality Monitoring Network - Per- and polyfluoroalkyl Substances Sampling Preparation
The Pennsylvania Water Science Center, in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and in collaboration with the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, met to ensure standard equipment cleaning and sampling procedures are used to collect PFAS for the Water-Quality Monitoring Network. Participants cleaned sampling gear and blanked all gear to ensure proper...
Susquehanna River and Basin
In Pennsylvania, the USGS's water-resources roots date back to the late 1800's, with the initiation of streamflow gaging on the Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers and assessments of groundwater resources near Philadelphia. The USGS Pennsylvania Water Science Center continues to provide scientific information about the water resources of the Susquehanna River Basin, in cooperation with regional...
Water-Quality Monitoring
Water-Quality Monitoring
Effects of legacy sediment removal and effects on nutrients and sediment in Big Spring Run, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 2009–15
Big Spring Run is a 1.68-square mile watershed underlain by mostly carbonate rock in a mixed land-use setting (part agricultural and part developed) in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Big Spring Run is a subwatershed of Mill Creek, a tributary to the Conestoga River. These watersheds are known contributors of nutrient and sediment loads to the...
Langland, Michael J.; Duris, Joseph W.; Zimmerman, Tammy M.; Chaplin, Jeffrey J.Spatial distribution of nutrients, chloride, and suspended sediment concentrations and loads determined by using different sampling methods in a cross section of the Trenton Channel of the Detroit River, Michigan, November 2014–November 2015
The Detroit River separates the United States and Canada as it flows from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie. The Trenton Channel is a 13-kilometer-long branch of the Detroit River that flows to the west of Grosse Ile before rejoining the Detroit River near its mouth, just before the Detroit River flows into Lake Erie. The U.S. Environmental Protection...
Totten, Alexander R.; Duris, Joseph W.Associations between cyanobacteria and indices of secondary production in the western basin of Lake Erie
Large lakes provide a variety of ecological services to surrounding cities and communities. Many of these services are supported by ecological processes that are threatened by the increasing prevalence of cyanobacterial blooms which occur as aquatic ecosystems experience cultural eutrophication. Over the past 10 yr, Lake Erie experienced...
Larson, James H.; Evans, Mary Anne; Kennedy, Robert J.; Bailey, Sean; Loftin, Keith A.; Laughrey, Zachary; Femmer, Robin; Schaeffer, Jeff; Richardson, William B.; Wynne, Timothy; Nelson, J. C.; Duris, Joseph W.Temporal trends in water-quality constituent concentrations and annual loads of chemical constituents in Michigan watersheds, 1998–2013
In 1998, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Geological Survey began the Water Chemistry Monitoring Program for select streams in the State of Michigan. Objectives of this program were to provide assistance with (1) statewide water-quality assessments, (2) the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permitting...
Hoard, Christopher J.; Fogarty, Lisa R.; Duris, Joseph W.Groundwater flux and nutrient loading in the northeast section of Bear Lake, Muskegon County, Michigan, 2015
Bear Lake in North Muskegon, Michigan, is listed as part of the Muskegon Lake area of concern as designated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This area of concern was designated as a result of eutrophication and beneficial use impairments. On the northeast end of Bear Lake, two man-made retention ponds (Willbrandt Pond East and...
Totten, Alexander R.; Maurer, Jessica A.; Duris, Joseph W.Understanding the hydrologic impacts of wastewater treatment plant discharge to shallow groundwater: Before and after plant shutdown
Effluent-impacted surface water has the potential to transport not only water, but wastewater-derived contaminants to shallow groundwater systems. To better understand the effects of effluent discharge on in-stream and near-stream hydrologic conditions in wastewater-impacted systems, water-level changes were monitored in hyporheic-zone and shallow...
Hubbard, Laura E.; Keefe, Steffanie H.; Kolpin, Dana W.; Barber, Larry B.; Duris, Joseph W.; Hutchinson, Kasey J.; Bradley, Paul M.Pre/post-closure assessment of groundwater pharmaceutical fate in a wastewater‑facility-impacted stream reach
Pharmaceutical contamination of contiguous groundwater is a substantial concern in wastewater-impacted streams, due to ubiquity in effluent, high aqueous mobility, designed bioactivity, and to effluent-driven hydraulic gradients. Wastewater treatment facility (WWTF) closures are rare environmental remediation events; offering unique insights into...
Bradley, Paul M.; Barber, Larry B.; Clark, Jimmy M.; Duris, Joseph W.; Foreman, William T. ; Furlong, Edward T.; Givens, Carrie E.; Hubbard, Laura E.; Hutchinson, Kasey J.; Journey, Celeste A.; Keefe, Steffanie H.; Kolpin, Dana W.Detection of hepatitis E virus and other livestock-related pathogens in Iowa streams
Manure application is a source of pathogens to the environment. Through overland runoff and tile drainage, zoonotic pathogens can contaminate surface water and streambed sediment and could affect both wildlife and human health. This study examined the environmental occurrence of gene markers for livestock-related bacterial, protozoan, and viral...
Givens, Carrie E.; Kolpin, Dana W.; Borchardt, Mark A.; Duris, Joseph W.; Moorman, Thomas B.; Spencer, Susan K.Contamination with bacterial zoonotic pathogen genes in U.S. streams influenced by varying types of animal agriculture
Animal waste, stream water, and streambed sediment from 19 small (< 32 km2) watersheds in 12 U.S. states having either no major animal agriculture (control, n = 4), or predominantly beef (n = 4), dairy (n = 3), swine (n = 5), or poultry (n = 3) were tested for: 1) cholesterol,...
Haack, Sheridan K.; Duris, Joseph W.; Kolpin, Dana W.; Focazio, Michael J.; Meyer, Michael T.; Johnson, Heather E.; Oster, Ryan J.; Foreman, William T.Water quality and hydrology of Silver Lake, Oceana County, Michigan, with emphasis on lake response to nutrient loading
Executive Summary Silver Lake is a 672-acre inland lake located in Oceana County, Michigan, and is a major tourist destination due to its proximity to Lake Michigan and the surrounding outdoor recreational opportunities. In recent years, Silver Lake exhibited patterns of high phosphorus concentrations, elevated chlorophyll a concentrations, and...
Brennan, Angela K.; Hoard, Christopher J.; Duris, Joseph W.; Ogdahl, Mary E.; Steinman, Alan D.Genes indicative of zoonotic and swine pathogens are persistent in stream water and sediment following a swine manure spill
Manure spills to streams are relatively frequent, but no studies have characterized stream contamination with zoonotic and veterinary pathogens, or fecal chemicals, following a spill. We tested stream water and sediment over 25 days and downstream for 7.6 km for: fecal indicator bacteria (FIB); the fecal indicator chemicals cholesterol and...
Haack, Sheridan K.; Duris, Joseph W.; Kolpin, Dana W.; Fogarty, Lisa R.; Johnson, Heather E.; Gibson, Kristen E.; Focazio, Michael J.; Schwab, Kellogg J.; Hubbard, Laura E.; Foreman, William T.Occurrence and distribution of fecal indicator bacteria and gene markers of pathogenic bacteria in Great Lakes tributaries, March-October 2011
From March through October 2011, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), conducted a study to determine the frequency of occurrence of pathogen gene markers and densities of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) in 22 tributaries to the Great Lakes. This project was funded as part of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) and included sampling at 22...
Brennan, Angela K.; Johnson, Heather E.; Totten, Alexander R.; Duris, Joseph W.