Laura E Hubbard
Biography
EDUCATION
M.S. Geology, concentration in Hydrology, Indiana University, 2007. Thesis: "The impact of storm characteristics and land use on nutrient export in two glaciated watersheds in central Indiana, USA"
B.S. Geological Sciences, Certificate in Environmental Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2004. Senior Research: "Field study to determine the lawn length needed to reduce runoff from rooftop downspouts for various rainfall intensities"
RESEARCH AREAS
- Contaminants of emerging concern
- Restored and native oxbow nutrient retention
- Water-quality data collection and analysis
- Nonpoint evaluation in both agricultural and urban areas
CURRENT PROJECTS
- Pathogens and other contaminants in groundwater and surface water proximal to poultry facilities in the Midwest
- Development of regressions for nutrient and sediment load computation in Great Lakes tributaries
- A landscape-scale experiment to quantify the hydrological, chemical, and biological effects of eliminating a wastewater treatment plant discharge into an urban stream ecosystem
- Chemical and Microbial Contaminants Derived from Animal Feeding Operations: Phase I - National Assessment of Relative Contaminant Contributions to Streams
Science and Products
Food Resources Science Team
The team studies the movement of toxicants and pathogens associated with food production through watersheds and aquifers, to water resources where exposure can occur. That information is used to understand if there are adverse effects upon exposure and to develop decision tools to protect health.
Occurrence of Avian Influenza Virus in Groundwater—Study Provides Baseline Data and Informs Future Studies
This pilot study provided baseline data on avian influenza virus (AIV) occurrence in groundwater underlying poultry farms and documented the challenges for conducting a pathogen transport study during a disease outbreak.
Recovery of Stream and Adjacent Groundwater After Wastewater Treatment Facility Closure
The hydrology and chemistry of a wastewater-impacted stream and adjacent groundwater responded rapidly (had fewer chemicals at lower concentrations) following wastewater treatment facility shutdown. However, the adjacent shallow groundwater remained a continuing source of some wastewater-derived contaminants to the stream at least 1 year post-shutdown.
A surrogate regression approach for computing continuous loads for the tributary nutrient and sediment monitoring program on the Great Lakes
Water quality (WQ) in many Great Lake tributaries has been degraded (increased nutrient and sediment concentrations) due to changes in their watersheds, resulting in downstream eutrophication. As part of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, specific goals were established for loading of specific constituents (e.g.,...
Robertson, Dale M.; Hubbard, Laura E.; Lorenz, David L.; Sullivan, Daniel J. Highlighting the complexities of a groundwater pilot study during an avian influenza outbreak: Methods, lessons learned, and select contaminant results
The highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N2) outbreak in the Midwestern United States (US) in 2015 was historic due to the number of birds and poultry operations impacted and the corresponding economic loss to the poultry industry and was the largest animal health emergency in US history. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), with the assistance of...
Hubbard, Laura E.; Kolpin, Dana W.; Fields, Chad L. ; Hladik, Michelle L.; Iwanowicz, Luke R. Avian influenza virus RNA in groundwater wells supplying poultry farms affected by the 2015 influenza outbreak
During the 2015 outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAI) on poultry farms in the midwestern United States, concern was raised about the potential for HPAI to contaminate groundwater. Our study objective was to evaluate the occurrence of HPAI in the groundwater supply wells on 13 outbreak-affected poultry farms in Iowa and...
Borchardt, Mark A.; Spencer, Susan K.; Hubbard, Laura E.; Firnstahl, Aaron; Stokdyk, Joel P.; Kolpin, Dana W.
Flood-frequency characteristics of Wisconsin streams
Flood-frequency characteristics for 360 gaged sites on unregulated rural streams in Wisconsin are presented for percent annual exceedance probabilities ranging from 0.2 to 50 using a statewide skewness map developed for this report. Equations of the relations between flood-frequency and drainage-basin characteristics were developed by multiple-...
Walker, John F.; Peppler, Marie C.; Danz, Mari E.; Hubbard, Laura E. The effect of restored and native oxbows on hydraulic loads of nutrients and stream water quality
The use of oxbow wetlands has been identified as a potential strategy to reduce nutrient transport from agricultural drainage tiles to streams in Iowa. In 2013 and 2014, a study was conducted in north-central Iowa in a native oxbow in the Lyons Creek watershed and two restored oxbow wetlands in the Prairie Creek watershed (Smeltzer west and...
Kalkhoff, Stephen J.; Hubbard, Laura E.; Joseph P.Schubauer-Berigan
U.S. Geological Survey science strategy for highly pathogenic avian influenza in wildlife and the environment (2016–2020)
IntroductionThrough the Science Strategy for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in Wildlife and the Environment, the USGS will assess avian influenza (AI) dynamics in an ecological context to inform decisions made by resource managers and policymakers from the local to national level. Through collection of unbiased scientific information on...
Harris, M. Camille; Pearce, John M.; Prosser, Diann J.; White, C. LeAnn; Miles, A. Keith; Sleeman, Jonathan M.; Brand, Christopher J.; Cronin, James P.; De La Cruz, Susan; Densmore, Christine L.; Doyle, Thomas W.; Dusek, Robert J.; Fleskes, Joseph P.; Flint, Paul L.; Guala, Gerald F.; Hall, Jeffrey S.; Hubbard, Laura E.; Hunt, Randall J.; Ip, Hon S.; Katz, Rachel A.; Laurent, Kevin W.; Miller, Mark P.; Munn, Mark D.; Ramey, Andrew M.; Richards, Kevin D.; Russell, Robin E.; Stokdyk, Joel P.; Takekawa, John Y.; Walsh, Daniel P. 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. Dairy-impacted wastewater is a source of iodinated disinfection byproducts in the environment
Iodinated disinfection byproducts (DBPs) are among the most toxic DBPs, but they are not typically measured in treated water. Iodinated DBPs can be toxic to humans, and they also have the potential to affect aquatic communities. Because of the specific use of iodine and iodine-containing compounds in dairies, such livestock operations can be a...
Hladik, Michelle; Hubbard, Laura E.; Kolpin, Dana W.; Focazio, Michael J. Effect of variable annual precipitation and nutrient input on nitrogen and phosphorus transport from two Midwestern agricultural watersheds
Precipitation patterns and nutrient inputs affect transport of nitrate (NO3-N) and phosphorus (TP) from Midwest watersheds. Nutrient concentrations and yields from two subsurface-drained watersheds, the Little Cobb River (LCR) in southern Minnesota and the South Fork Iowa River (SFIR) in northern Iowa, were evaluated during 1996–2007 to...
Kalkhoff, Stephen J.; Hubbard, Laura E.; Tomer, Mark D.; James, D.E. 2013 Survey of Iowa groundwater and evaluation of public well vulnerability classifications for contaminants of emerging concern
Studies in Iowa have long documented the vulnerability of wells with less than 50 feet (15 meters) of confining materials above the source aquifer to contamination from nitrate and various pesticides. Recent studies in Wisconsin have documented the occurrence of viruses in untreated groundwater, even in wells considered to have little...
Hruby, Claire E. ; Libra, Robert D.; Fields, Chad L. ; Kolpin, Dana W.; Hubbard, Laura E.; Borchardt, Mark R.; Spencer, Susan K.; Wichman, Michael D. ; Hall, Nancy; Schueller, Michael D. ; Furlong, Edward T.; Weyer, Peter J. 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.