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Katherine Norton

I am a software project manager, programmer, and data analyst. 

I work on a variety of projects related to computer systems and data analysis, mostly in the sediment domain.  Currently I am serving as the project manager for the modernization of the National Water Information System discrete sample data sub-system. I am also the developer for the Sediment Laboratory Environmental Database System (SLEDS), the information management system used by USGS sediment laboratories to track samples and compute results for physical analysis of sediment samples. My other recent work includes:

  • quantitative analysis of uncertainty and analytical method performance in support of quality control in the USGS sediment labs. 
  • conducting testing and research to determine how laser diffraction particle size analysis can best be used in support of USGS sediment science. 
  • revising historical sediment lab results for samples collected in the Lower Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basin.
  • instrumentation development for imaging particle size analysis.
  • method development for custom sediment analyses such as bulk density, specific gravity, settling velocity.

My MS thesis was on sediment resuspension from urban stormwater detention ponds; my MST thesis was on how science service learning programs can promote high school girls' interest in science. Since I finished graduate school in December 2008,  I've been working for the CVO Sediment Lab.