Kelly L Warner
Kelly Warner is the Center Director for the Columbia Environmental Research Center.
Kelly has been on the leading edge of new technology and interpretive science. She began her career as a graduate student collecting surface water data and working on an urban lake project. As digital spatial applications evolved, she developed an international study of groundwater quality in the Great Lakes basin that was supported by International Joint Commission. Kelly helped to write the groundwater and urban water component of the first biennial report on Great Lakes groundwater quality as part of international Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. Kelly and colleagues presented this research to the International Association of Hydrogeologists in Rome, Italy, on the impact of urban development on water quality for US and Canada.
Kelly spent part of her career as Regional Aquifer Coordinator for the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program where she led a regional team of hydrologists from Maine to Washington on investigations of water quality in the glacial aquifer system. New analytical and interpretive methods were used for understanding changes in water quality across northern United States including methods of arsenic speciation and redox mapping. As a supervisor of water quality studies in Illinois, Kelly helped grow a large program using new methods for continuous monitoring of nitrate and phosphate. The network in Illinois was one of the largest in the country which led to her participation in a Congressional briefing in Washington, DC on the science and interpretive value of the new continuous nutrient sensors. From 2017-2024, Kelly was the Deputy Director of Science for the Central Midwest Water Science Center, where she led innovative science and research on water resources in Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri.
In 2024, Kelly became the Center Director for the Columbia Environmental Research Center in Columbia, MO.
Education and Certifications
B.S., Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois
M.S. Northern Illinois University, De Kalb, Illinois
University of Illinois, additional study, Urbana, Illinois
Affiliations and Memberships*
Illinois Nutrient Monitoring Council
Prairie Research Institute Technical Advisory Board
USGS Diversity and Inclusion Regional and National (interim) Councils from 2015-2021
Upper Mississippi River Basin Association Water Quality Task Force
Illinois Coordinating Committee on Groundwater
Honors and Awards
USGS Superior Service Award
USGS Shoemaker Award (2010 and 2019)
National Association of Government Communicators Blue Pencil Award for Excellence (2019).
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Commander Coin for Excellence, Rock Island District (2019)
Abstracts and Presentations
Warner, K., Howard, K., Gerber, R. Soo Chan, G., and Ford, D., 2016. Effects of urban development on groundwater. Chapt. 6 in Grannemann, G. and Van Stempvoort, D. (Eds.), Groundwater science relevant to the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement: A status report. Final version, May, 2016. Published (online) by Environment and Climate Change Canada and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Howard, K., Ricardo, H., Shivakoti, B.R., Warner, K., Gogu, R., Nkhuwa, D., 2015, Resilient cities and groundwater. Foster, S. and Tyson, G., eds., International Association of Hydrogeologists, publisher.
Warner, K.L., and Howard, K.W.F, 2015, United States and Canada Assess the Impact of Urban Development on Groundwater Quality—Example from the Great Lakes Basin: 42nd Congress of the International Association of Hydrogeologists, Rome, Italy, September, 2015,
Science and Products
Water quality in the upper Illinois River basin: Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin, 1999-2001
Arsenic in Illinois ground water — Community and private supplies
The Mahomet aquifer: A transboundary resource in east-central Illinois
Arsenic in glacial drift aquifers and the implication for drinking water - Lower Illinois River Basin
The crazy hollow formation (Eocene) of central Utah
Potential drinking water concerns in ground and surface water in the Illinois River Basin; U.S. Geological Survey perspective from the National Water Quality Assessment
Water quality in the lower Illinois River Basin, Illinois, 1995-98
Analysis of nutrients, selected inorganic constituents, and trace elements in water from Illinois community-supply wells, 1984–91
Water-quality assessment of the lower Illinois River Basin: Environmental setting
National Water-Quality Assessment Program; the lower Illinois River Basin
Hydrogeologic information in the Great Lakes basin, United States, and application of a geographic information system to public supply wells and hazardous-waste sites
Non-USGS Publications**
Roadcap, G.S., Panno, S.V., Wilson, S.D., and Pugin, A., 2004, The Mahomet
Aquifer--recent advances in our knowledge: Illinois State Geological Survey Open
File Series 2004-16, 19 p.
1994, Buried bedrock surface of Illinois: Illinois State Geological Survey Map Series,
Map 5, 1:500,000 scale map
U.S. Water News, v.9, no.6, p.21-22.
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Science and Products
Water quality in the upper Illinois River basin: Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin, 1999-2001
Arsenic in Illinois ground water — Community and private supplies
The Mahomet aquifer: A transboundary resource in east-central Illinois
Arsenic in glacial drift aquifers and the implication for drinking water - Lower Illinois River Basin
The crazy hollow formation (Eocene) of central Utah
Potential drinking water concerns in ground and surface water in the Illinois River Basin; U.S. Geological Survey perspective from the National Water Quality Assessment
Water quality in the lower Illinois River Basin, Illinois, 1995-98
Analysis of nutrients, selected inorganic constituents, and trace elements in water from Illinois community-supply wells, 1984–91
Water-quality assessment of the lower Illinois River Basin: Environmental setting
National Water-Quality Assessment Program; the lower Illinois River Basin
Hydrogeologic information in the Great Lakes basin, United States, and application of a geographic information system to public supply wells and hazardous-waste sites
Non-USGS Publications**
Roadcap, G.S., Panno, S.V., Wilson, S.D., and Pugin, A., 2004, The Mahomet
Aquifer--recent advances in our knowledge: Illinois State Geological Survey Open
File Series 2004-16, 19 p.
1994, Buried bedrock surface of Illinois: Illinois State Geological Survey Map Series,
Map 5, 1:500,000 scale map
U.S. Water News, v.9, no.6, p.21-22.
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government