After harvest, fields are reflooded to decay the remaining straw. This decaying material can fuel the bacteria that create methylmercury, even during the cold months.
Lisamarie Windham-Myers
Lisamarie Windham-Myers is a Research Ecologist in the Earth Systems Process Division of the Water Resource Mission Area, currently on detail to the State of California’s Delta Stewardship Council as the Delta Lead Scientist.
As a systems ecologist, Lisamarie leads research on multi-scale integration of biota, hydrologic flows, and terrestrial influences on carbon, nutrient and trace metal biogeochemistry. Her work is collaborative and transdisciplinary by design, with a focus on global changes to terrestrial-aquatic interfaces, a critical and underrepresented component in assessing landscape-scale biogeochemical responses to management actions. Lisamarie’s approaches span landscape-to-molecular scales as necessary to understand how alterations of wetland structure influences wetland function. Since 2000, she has authored or coauthored over 120 peer-reviewed papers on wetland biogeochemistry, and coproduced functional maps of wetland elevation and soil characteristics. From local to national to global assessments, Lisamarie represents USGS capabilities and interests across the aquatic continuum to improve management of wetlands under climate and land-use scenarios. In her current role at the California Delta Stewardship Council, she brings scientific guidance to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta's coequal goals of a reliable water supply and resilient ecosystem.
EDUCATION
- Ph.D. 1999, Rutgers University, Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources
- M.S. 1995, Rutgers University, Geography
- B.A. 1991, University of California Los Angeles, Environmental Engineering
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
- Research Ecologist, U.S. Geological Survey Water Mission Area (National Research Program) 2004-
- Visiting Scholar , Stanford University (2003-2004)
- Assistant Professor, Dept Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lehigh University (2000-2004)
- NSF Post-doctoral Fellow, Dept Biological Sciences, 1998-2000
- NOAA NERR Fellow/NASA Global Change Research Fellow, 1995-1998
- Geographic Information System Coordinator, Natural Heritage Program, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, 1992-1999
- Hyperspectral Remote Sensing Scientist, NASA/Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 1989-1992
RESEARCH INTERESTS
- Environmental Chemistry
- Watershed science
- Carbon and nutrient biogeochemistry
- Mercury biogeochemistry
- Environmental restoration
RECENT SYNERGISTIC ACTIVITIES
- North American Carbon Program, CoChair 2021 Open Science Meeting
- NASA Carbon Monitoring System Principal Investigator, Co-Investigator and Science Team (2014-)
- Powell Center Wetland Methane FLUXNET Synthesis (2018-)
- NSF-Coastal Carbon Research Coordination Network (2018-)
Science and Products
Building a roadmap to integrate freshwater wetlands into the National Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventory
Inter-agency, in-person, collaborative workshop with scientists and stakeholders to fill a major information gap.
Wetland Carbon Working Group: Improving Methodologies and Estimates of Carbon and Greenhouse Gas Flux in Wetlands
WARC researchers are working to quantify the impacts of future climate and land use/land cover change on greenhouse gas emissions and reductions.
USGS Blue Carbon Projects
Together with partner organizations, the USGS is involved in data collection, analysis, and synthesis to improve estimates of coastal wetland carbon fluxes. This research will help improve science and data availability across a wide range of topics.
Creating a Model to Predict Future Carbon Levels in Tidally-driven Marshes
Tidal marshes are important ecosystems in the San Francisco-Bay Delta. They remove carbon from the atmosphere, they build up soils that buffer our communities from sea level rise, they provide critical habitat and food resources for a diversity of species, and they reduce excessive nutrients which have a negative impact on water quality. As a result of land-use change and urbanization, the San...
Global Science and Data Network for Coastal Blue Carbon (SBC)
The Global Science and Data Network for Coastal Blue Carbon (SBC) brings together scientists from a wide range of disciplines. Our goal is to increase the accuracy of and confidence in local, regional, and global estimates of carbon cycle processes, fluxes, and storage as well as greenhouse gas emissions from coastal ecosystems, and to allow global access to quality controlled coastal ecosystem...
NASA-USGS National Blue Carbon Monitoring System
The NASA-USGS National Blue Carbon Monitoring System project will evaluate the relative uncertainty of iterative modeling approaches to estimate coastal wetland (marsh and mangrove) C stocks and fluxes based on changes in wetland distributions, using nationally available datasets (Landsat) and as well as finer scale satellite and field derived data in six sentinel sites.
Assessing the Benefits and Vulnerability of Current and Future Potential Ecosystem Services of the Nisqually River Delta and other Puget Sound Estuaries
The Nisqually River Delta represents the largest wetland restoration in the Pacific Northwest. The restoration resulted in a 50% increase in potential salt marsh habitat. The Delta supports threatened salmon fisheries, large populations of migratory birds, and provides unique opportunities for recreation. The Delta also provides multiple ecosystem services, which are the benefits that...
Wetland fluxnet synthesis for methane: understanding and predicting methane fluxes at daily to interannual timescales
Wetlands provide many important ecosystem services, including wildlife habitat, water purification, flood protection, and carbon metabolism. Our ability to manage these services and predict the long-term health of wetlands is strongly linked to their carbon fluxes, of which methane (CH4) is a key component. Natural wetlands emit approximately 30% of global CH4 emissions, as their...
Integration of National Soil and Wetland Datasets: A Toolkit for Reproducible Calculation and Quality Assessment of Imputed Wetland Soil Properties
Wetland soils are vital to the Nation because of their role in sustaining water resources, supporting critical ecosystems, and sequestering significant concentrations of biologically-produced carbon. The United States has the world’s most detailed continent-scale digital datasets for soils and wetlands, yet scientists and land managers have long struggled with the challenge of...
Post-Harvest Rice Straw
After harvest, fields are reflooded to decay the remaining straw. This decaying material can fuel the bacteria that create methylmercury, even during the cold months.
Rice Field Sediment Sampling
USGS researcher sampling sediment from flooded rice fields after 1 month of growth. The caged fish 'Hg bioaccumulation' experiment can be seen in the foreground.
USGS researcher sampling sediment from flooded rice fields after 1 month of growth. The caged fish 'Hg bioaccumulation' experiment can be seen in the foreground.
Rice Field Sediment Sampling
USGS researchers sampling sediment from newly flooded rice fields, during growing season.
USGS researchers sampling sediment from newly flooded rice fields, during growing season.
Science and Products
Building a roadmap to integrate freshwater wetlands into the National Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventory
Inter-agency, in-person, collaborative workshop with scientists and stakeholders to fill a major information gap.
Wetland Carbon Working Group: Improving Methodologies and Estimates of Carbon and Greenhouse Gas Flux in Wetlands
WARC researchers are working to quantify the impacts of future climate and land use/land cover change on greenhouse gas emissions and reductions.
USGS Blue Carbon Projects
Together with partner organizations, the USGS is involved in data collection, analysis, and synthesis to improve estimates of coastal wetland carbon fluxes. This research will help improve science and data availability across a wide range of topics.
Creating a Model to Predict Future Carbon Levels in Tidally-driven Marshes
Tidal marshes are important ecosystems in the San Francisco-Bay Delta. They remove carbon from the atmosphere, they build up soils that buffer our communities from sea level rise, they provide critical habitat and food resources for a diversity of species, and they reduce excessive nutrients which have a negative impact on water quality. As a result of land-use change and urbanization, the San...
Global Science and Data Network for Coastal Blue Carbon (SBC)
The Global Science and Data Network for Coastal Blue Carbon (SBC) brings together scientists from a wide range of disciplines. Our goal is to increase the accuracy of and confidence in local, regional, and global estimates of carbon cycle processes, fluxes, and storage as well as greenhouse gas emissions from coastal ecosystems, and to allow global access to quality controlled coastal ecosystem...
NASA-USGS National Blue Carbon Monitoring System
The NASA-USGS National Blue Carbon Monitoring System project will evaluate the relative uncertainty of iterative modeling approaches to estimate coastal wetland (marsh and mangrove) C stocks and fluxes based on changes in wetland distributions, using nationally available datasets (Landsat) and as well as finer scale satellite and field derived data in six sentinel sites.
Assessing the Benefits and Vulnerability of Current and Future Potential Ecosystem Services of the Nisqually River Delta and other Puget Sound Estuaries
The Nisqually River Delta represents the largest wetland restoration in the Pacific Northwest. The restoration resulted in a 50% increase in potential salt marsh habitat. The Delta supports threatened salmon fisheries, large populations of migratory birds, and provides unique opportunities for recreation. The Delta also provides multiple ecosystem services, which are the benefits that...
Wetland fluxnet synthesis for methane: understanding and predicting methane fluxes at daily to interannual timescales
Wetlands provide many important ecosystem services, including wildlife habitat, water purification, flood protection, and carbon metabolism. Our ability to manage these services and predict the long-term health of wetlands is strongly linked to their carbon fluxes, of which methane (CH4) is a key component. Natural wetlands emit approximately 30% of global CH4 emissions, as their...
Integration of National Soil and Wetland Datasets: A Toolkit for Reproducible Calculation and Quality Assessment of Imputed Wetland Soil Properties
Wetland soils are vital to the Nation because of their role in sustaining water resources, supporting critical ecosystems, and sequestering significant concentrations of biologically-produced carbon. The United States has the world’s most detailed continent-scale digital datasets for soils and wetlands, yet scientists and land managers have long struggled with the challenge of...
Post-Harvest Rice Straw
After harvest, fields are reflooded to decay the remaining straw. This decaying material can fuel the bacteria that create methylmercury, even during the cold months.
After harvest, fields are reflooded to decay the remaining straw. This decaying material can fuel the bacteria that create methylmercury, even during the cold months.
Rice Field Sediment Sampling
USGS researcher sampling sediment from flooded rice fields after 1 month of growth. The caged fish 'Hg bioaccumulation' experiment can be seen in the foreground.
USGS researcher sampling sediment from flooded rice fields after 1 month of growth. The caged fish 'Hg bioaccumulation' experiment can be seen in the foreground.
Rice Field Sediment Sampling
USGS researchers sampling sediment from newly flooded rice fields, during growing season.
USGS researchers sampling sediment from newly flooded rice fields, during growing season.