Karen C Rice
My research interests are in watershed biogeochemical processes, specifically in identifying the hydrologic and anthropogenic drivers of those processes. My research focuses on the status and trends of stream flow and stream-water quality in response to stressors, including air pollution, climatic variability, and anthropogenic land-use influences.
Biography
Recent highlights of the impact of my science on society include invited speaking engagements at the Cosmos Club for the Geological Society of Washington, D.C.; a NASA-sponsored public panel discussion in Boulder, Co., along with Jim Hansen, Brian Toon, and Bill Nye (the Science Guy); multiple National Public Radio interviews and broadcasts; and news coverage in The Washington Post, The Baltimore Sun, USA Today, and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Most of my research has been published in Environmental Science & Technology and Water Resources Research, but other outlets include Applied Geochemistry, Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Atmospheric Environment, Chemical Geology, Climatic Change, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, Hydrological Processes, and Journal of Hydrology.
I received a B.S. in Geology from James Madison University, an M.S. in Geology from Utah State University, and a Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences from the University of Virginia. I hold a joint appointment as Research Hydrologist with USGS and Research Faculty in the Deparment of Environmental Sciences at University of Virginia.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Rice, K.C., Scanlon, T.M., Lynch, J.A., and Cosby, B.J., 2014, Decreased atmospheric sulfur deposition across the southeastern U.S.: When will watersheds release stored sulfate?: Environmental Science &Technology: 48, 10071-10078 (dx.doi.org/10.1021/es501579s)
Rice, K.C., and Jastram, J.D., 2015, Rising air and stream-water temperatures in Chesapeake Bay region, USA: Climatic Change: 128 (1), 127-138 (10.1007/s10584-014-1295-9)
Science and Products
Climate Change in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed: Effects on Riverine Discharge, Ecosystems, and Water Quality
The 64,000-square mile watershed that drains to the Chesapeake Bay is highly populated and has diverse land use, including forested, agricultural, and urbanized areas. Increased precipitation in the eastern United States over the last 100 years has affected stream flow and thus the loading of pollutants delivered to the bay. Such pollutants as suspended sediment and dissolved phosphorus and...
Appalachian Trail MEGA-Transect Atmospheric Deposition Effects Study
The Appalachian Trail (AT), a 14-state footpath from Maine to Georgia, is a unit of the National Park Service that is cooperatively managed and maintained by the National Park Service (NPS), the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, AT Club volunteers, the USDA Forest Service, and other public land-management agencies. Upper elevation and ridge-top ecosystems, which comprise much of the trail corr...
Science Summary-Stream temperature rising throughout the Chesapeake Bay region
U.S. Geological Survey research, published in the journal Climatic Change
Chesapeake Bay Region Streams are Warming
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- The majority of streams in the Chesapeake Bay region are warming, and that increase appears to be driven largely by rising air temperatures. These findings are based on new U.S. Geological Survey research published in the journal Climatic Change.
Oyster Aquaculture Could Significantly Improve Potomac River Estuary Water Quality
Oyster aquaculture in the Potomac River estuary could result in significant improvements to water quality, according to a new NOAA and U.S. Geological Survey study published in the journal Aquatic Geochemistry.