Skip to main content

Laura DeCicco

Laura DeCicco is a Civil Engineer with the Upper Midwest Water Science Center.

 

 

Professional Experience

  • 2019 - present, Upper Midwest Water Science Center (UMid WSC)

  • 2018 - 2019, Integrated Information Decemination Division (IIDD), Data Science Branch

  • 2014 - 2018, Office of Water Information (OWI)

  • 2010 - 2014, Center for Integrated Data Analytics (CIDA)

Education and Certifications

  • Professional Engineer, State of Wisconsin, 2011

    (Formally Laura Kranendonk)

  • Post Doc, Oak Ridge National Lab, 2007-2009

  • Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering - University of Wisconsin - Madison, 2006

  • M.S. Biomedical Engineering - University of Wisconsin - Madison, 2001

  • B.S. Mechanical Engineering - University of Wisconsin - Madison, 1999

Science and Products

link
Photo of a snow plow with a load of road salt

Evaluating chloride trends due to road-salt use and its impacts on water quality and aquatic organisms

Chloride, a key component of road salt, is soluble, highly mobile in water, and, at high concentrations, can be toxic to aquatic vegetation and wildlife. USGS scientists have been analyzing temporal, seasonal, and environmental trends in chloride concentrations across the U.S. to determine the effects that road salt may be having on water quality and aquatic organisms.
By
Upper Midwest Water Science Center
link

Evaluating chloride trends due to road-salt use and its impacts on water quality and aquatic organisms

Chloride, a key component of road salt, is soluble, highly mobile in water, and, at high concentrations, can be toxic to aquatic vegetation and wildlife. USGS scientists have been analyzing temporal, seasonal, and environmental trends in chloride concentrations across the U.S. to determine the effects that road salt may be having on water quality and aquatic organisms.
Learn More

Optical signals of water for prediction of wastewater contamination, human-associated bacteria, and fecal indicator bacteria in surface water of Great Lake tributaries from 2011 to 2016

Data are from water samples collected from tributaries of the Great Lakes at three different drainage basin scales, including 1). watershed scale: 8 tributaries of the Great Lakes, 2). subwatershed scale: 5 locations from the greater Milwaukee, Wisconsin area, and 3). small scale: 213 storm sewers and open channel locations in three subwatersheds within the Great Lakes Basin including the Middle B
By
Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, Upper Midwest Water Science Center

Chemistry of waters collected in the Wolf Creek and Buffalo Creek watersheds in West Virginia in 2016

Water chemistry data for samples collected in 2016 in the Wolf Creek and Buffalo Creek watersheds in West Virginia. The dataset includes stream characteristics including flow and location information for sampling sites.
By
Water Resources

Water-quality and streamflow datasets used in the Weighted Regressions on Time, Discharge, and Season (WRTDS) models to determine trends in the Nations rivers and streams, 1972-2012

In 1991, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began a study of more than 50 major river basins across the Nation as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) project of the National Water-Quality Program. One of the major goals of the NAWQA project is to determine how water-quality conditions change over time. To support that goal, long-term consistent and comparable monitoring has been c
By
Water Resources
Filter Total Items: 13

Optical properties of water for prediction of wastewater contamination, human-associated bacteria, and fecal indicator bacteria in surface water at three watershed scales

Relations between spectral absorbance and fluorescence properties of water and human-associated and fecal indicator bacteria were developed for facilitating field sensor applications to estimate wastewater contamination in waterways. Leaking wastewater conveyance infrastructure commonly contaminates receiving waters. Methods to quantify such contamination can be time consuming, expensive, and ofte
By
Water Resources, California Water Science Center, Upper Midwest Water Science Center

Identifying chemicals and mixtures of potential biological concern detected in passive samplers from Great Lakes tributaries using high-throughput data and biological pathways

Waterborne contaminants were monitored in 69 tributaries of the Laurentian Great Lakes in 2010 and 2014 using semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) and polar organic chemical integrative samplers (POCIS). A risk-based screening approach was used to prioritize chemicals and chemical mixtures, identify sites at greatest risk for biological impacts, and identify potential hazards to monitor at those
By
Ecosystems, Water Resources, Columbia Environmental Research Center, Idaho Water Science Center, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, Upper Midwest Water Science Center

Evaluating the potential role of bioactive chemicals on the distribution of invasive Asian carp upstream and downstream from river mile 278 in the Illinois waterway

Two non-native carp species have invaded the Illinois Waterway and are a threat to Great Lakes ecosystems. Poor water quality in the upper Illinois Waterway, may be a factor contributing to the stalling of the carp population front near river mile 278. In 2015, the U.S. Geological Survey collected 4 sets of water samples from two sites upstream and 4 sites downstream from river mile 278, and one t
By
Water Resources, Central Midwest Water Science Center, Colorado Water Science Center

Prioritizing chemicals of ecological concern in Great Lakes tributaries using high-throughput screening data and adverse outcome pathways

Chemical monitoring data were collected in surface waters from 57 Great Lakes tributaries from 2010-13 to identify chemicals of potential biological relevance and sites at which these chemicals occur. Traditional water-quality benchmarks for aquatic life based on in vivo toxicity data were available for 34 of 67 evaluated chemicals. To expand evaluation of potential biological effects, measured ch
By
Water Resources, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, Upper Midwest Water Science Center, Idaho Water Science Center

Mixed-chemical exposure and predicted effects potential in wadeable southeastern USA streams

Complex chemical mixtures have been widely reported in larger streams but relatively little work has been done to characterize them and assess their potential effects in headwaterstreams. In 2014, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) sampled 54 Piedmont streams over ten weeks and measured 475 unique organic compounds using five analytical methods. Maximum and median exposure conditions were
By
Water Resources, Toxic Substances Hydrology, Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Water Science Center, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC)

Reconnaissance of mixed organic and inorganic chemicals in private and public supply tapwaters at selected residential and workplace sites in the United States

Safe drinking water at the point-of-use (tapwater, TW) is a United States public health priority. Multiple lines of evidence were used to evaluate potential human health concerns of 482 organics and 19 inorganics in TW from 13 (7 public supply, 6 private well self-supply) home and 12 (public supply) workplace locations in 11 states. Only uranium (61.9 μg L–1, private well) exceeded a National Prim
By
Water Resources, Ecosystems, Contaminant Biology, Toxic Substances Hydrology, Environmental Health Program, Eastern Ecological Science Center, California Water Science Center, Colorado Water Science Center, Central Midwest Water Science Center, Kansas Water Science Center, Michigan-Ohio Water Science Center, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, Upper Midwest Water Science Center, New Jersey Water Science Center, Oregon Water Science Center, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC), St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, National Water Quality Laboratory

An “EAR” on environmental surveillance and monitoring: A case study on the use of Exposure–Activity Ratios (EARs) to prioritize sites, chemicals, and bioactivities of concern in Great Lakes waters

Current environmental monitoring approaches focus primarily on chemical occurrence. However, based on concentration alone, it can be difficult to identify which compounds may be of toxicological concern and should be prioritized for further monitoring, in-depth testing, or management. This can be problematic because toxicological characterization is lacking for many emerging contaminants. New sour
By
Water Resources, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, Upper Midwest Water Science Center

Water-quality trends in the nation’s rivers and streams, 1972–2012—Data preparation, statistical methods, and trend results

Since passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972, Federal, State, and local governments have invested billions of dollars to reduce pollution entering rivers and streams. To understand the return on these investments and to effectively manage and protect the Nation’s water resources in the future, we need to know how and why water quality has been changing over time. As part of the National Water-Qual
By
Water Resources, Colorado Water Science Center, New Jersey Water Science Center, New Mexico Water Science Center, Pennsylvania Water Science Center

Water quality data for national-scale aquatic research: The Water Quality Portal

Aquatic systems are critical to food, security, and society. But, water data are collected by hundreds of research groups and organizations, many of which use nonstandard or inconsistent data descriptions and dissemination, and disparities across different types of water observation systems represent a major challenge for freshwater research. To address this issue, the Water Quality Portal (WQP) w

Organic contaminants in Great Lakes tributaries: Prevalence and potential aquatic toxicity

Organic compounds used in agriculture, industry, and households make their way into surface waters through runoff, leaking septic-conveyance systems, regulated and unregulated discharges, and combined sewer overflows, among other sources. Concentrations of these organic waste compounds (OWCs) in some Great Lakes tributaries indicate a high potential for adverse impacts on aquatic organisms. During
By
Water Resources, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, Upper Midwest Water Science Center

A bootstrap method for estimating uncertainty of water quality trends

Estimation of the direction and magnitude of trends in surface water quality remains a problem of great scientific and practical interest. The Weighted Regressions on Time, Discharge, and Season (WRTDS) method was recently introduced as an exploratory data analysis tool to provide flexible and robust estimates of water quality trends. This paper enhances the WRTDS method through the introduction o
By
Water Resources

River chloride trends in snow-affected urban watersheds: increasing concentrations outpace urban growth rate and are common among all seasons

Chloride concentrations in northern U.S. included in this study have increased substantially over time with average concentrations approximately doubling from 1990 to 2011, outpacing the rate of urbanization in the northern U.S. Historical data were examined for 30 monitoring sites on 19 streams that had chloride concentration and flow records of 18 to 49 years. Chloride concentrations in most stu
By
Water Resources, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, Upper Midwest Water Science Center

toxEval

Evaluation of measured concentration data using the ToxCast high-throughput screening database or a user-defined set of concentration benchmarks.

Science and Products