Berthelote, A., Farinacci, A., Storb, M., and Woessner, W.W., Determining the Impact of Milltown Reservoir Drawdowns on the Adjacent Unconfined Aquifer: Remediation Stage 1 Observed and Stage 2 Forecasted: DEQ Contract No. 406006, Federal Catalog No. 66.80
Meryl Storb
Biography
While completing my B.S. at the University of Montana I worked as a research assistant for a groundwater modeling project related to the Milltown Dam Removal. I also worked as Environmental Health Technician for the Missoula City County Department of Water Quality working on monitoring and communicating impacts of the Milltown dam removal to residents.
After completing my B.S. I worked as a hydrogeologist for a series of environmental consulting firms in Missoula. In 2014 I moved to Bozeman to pursue a Ph.D. related to hydrology at Montana State University. My dissertation research is focused on understanding impacts from climate change and development on alpine stream ecosystems.
B.S. in Environmental Geology from the University of Montana, 2008
In progress: Ph.D. in Ecology and Environmental Science – working in the Watershed Hydrology Lab at Montana State University
Science and Products
Year Published: 2021
Origin of unconsolidated Quaternary deposits at Harriet Point near Redoubt Volcano, Alaska
Unconsolidated boulder-rich diamicton units exposed in sea cliffs at Harriet Point southeast of Redoubt Volcano were evaluated to better understand their provenance relative to the late Quaternary eruptive history of the volcano. A previous study concluded that deposits at Harriet Point were emplaced by a large volcanic landslide originating on...
Waythomas, Christopher F.Attribution: Volcano Science Center, Volcano Hazards Program Office
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Waythomas, C.F., 2021, Origin of unconsolidated Quaternary deposits at Harriet Point near Redoubt Volcano, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5071, 14 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20215071.
Year Published: 2021
Economic assessment of surface water in the Harney Basin, Oregon
Executive SummaryThe Harney Basin is a closed river basin in southeastern Oregon. Surface water in the basin is used for a variety of social, economic, and ecological benefits. While some surface water uses compete with one another, others are complementary or jointly produce multiple beneficial outcomes. The objective of this study is to conduct...
Bair, Lucas S.; Flyr, Matthew; Huber, ChristopherAttribution: Southwest Biological Science Center, Ecosystems
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Bair, L.S., Flyr, M., and Huber, C., 2021, Economic assessment of surface water in the Harney Basin, Oregon: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2021-1087, 43 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20211087.
Year Published: 2021
Survival and abundance of polar bears in Alaska’s Beaufort Sea, 2001–2016
The Arctic Ocean is undergoing rapid transformation toward a seasonally ice-free ecosystem. As ice-adapted apex predators, polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are challenged to cope with ongoing habitat degradation and changes in their prey base driven by food-web response to climate warming. Knowledge of polar bear response to environmental change is...
Bromaghin, Jeffrey F.; Douglas, David C.; Durner, George M.; Simac, Kristin S.; Atwood, Todd C.
Year Published: 2021
Natural history of a bighorn sheep pneumonia epizootic: Source of infection, course of disease, and pathogen clearance
A respiratory disease epizootic at the National Bison Range (NBR) in Montana in 2016–2017 caused an 85% decline in the bighorn sheep population, documented by observations of its unmarked but individually identifiable members, the subjects of an ongoing long-term study. The index case was likely one of a small group of young bighorn sheep on a...
Besser, T. E.; Cassirer, E. Frances; Lisk, Amy; Nelson, Danielle; Manlove, Kezia R.; Cross, Paul; Hogg, John T.Attribution: Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center, Ecosystems
Year Published: 2021
Evidence for humans in North America during the Last Glacial Maximum
Archaeologists and researchers in allied fields have long sought to understand human colonization of North America. When, how, and from where did people migrate, and what were the consequences of their arrival for the established fauna and landscape are enduring questions. Here, we present evidence from excavated surfaces of in situ human...
Bennett, Matthew R.; Bustos, David; Pigati, Jeffrey S.; Springer, Kathleen B.; Urban, Thomas. M.; Holliday, Vance T.; Reynolds, Sally C.; Budka, Marcin; Honke, Jeffrey S.; Hudson, Adam M.; Fenerty, Brendan; Connelly, Clare; Martinez, Patrick J.; Santucci, Vincent L.; Odess, DanielAttribution: Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, Climate Research and Development Program, Land Change Science Program, Region 7: Upper Colorado Basin, United States of America
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Bennett, M.R., Bustos, D., Pigati, J.S., Springer, K.B., Urban, T.M., Holliday, V.T., Reynolds, S.C., Budka, M., Honke, J.S., Hudson, A.M., Fenerty, B., Connelly, C., Martinez, P.J., Santucci, V.L., Odess, D., 2021, Evidence for humans in North America during the Last Glacial Maximum. Science. https://science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abg7586.
Year Published: 2021
Helium-carbon systematics of groundwaters in the Lassen Peak Region
Carbon dioxide emissions from active subaerial volcanoes represent 20–50% of the annual global volcanic CO2 flux (Barry et al., 2014). Passive degassing of carbon from the flanks of volcanoes, and the associated accumulation of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) within nearby groundwater, also represents a potentially important,...
Barry, Peter; Bekaert, David; Krantz, John; Halldorsson, Saemundor; DeMoor, J. Maarten; Fischer, Tobias; Werner, Cynthia; Kelly, Peter J.; Seltzer, Alan; Franz, Brian; Kulongoski, Justin T.Attribution: Volcano Science Center, Volcano Hazards Program Office
Year Published: 2021
Alpine glacier reveals ecosystem impacts of Europe's prosperity and peril over the last millennium
Information about past ecosystem dynamics and human activities is stored in the ice of Colle Gnifetti glacier in the Swiss Alps. Adverse climatic intervals incurred crop failures and famines and triggered reestablishment of forest vegetation but also societal resilience through innovation. Historical documents and lake sediments record these...
Brugger, Sandra O.; Schwikowski, Margit; Gobet, Erika; Schworer, Christoph; Rohr, Christian; Sigl, Michael; Henne, Stephan; Pfister, Christian; Jenk, Theo M.; Henne, Paul D.; Tinner, Willy
Year Published: 2021
SiteOpt: An open-source R-package for site selection and portfolio optimization
Conservation planning involves identifying and selecting actions to best achieve objectives for managing natural, social and cultural resources. Conservation problems are often high dimensional when specified as combinatorial or portfolio problems and when multiple competing objectives are considered at varying spatial and temporal scales....
Saghand, Payman G; Haider, Zulqarnain; Charkhgard, Hadi; Eaton, Mitchell; Martin, Julien; Yurek, Simeon; Udell, Bradley J.
Year Published: 2021
Drought resistance and resilience: The role of soil moisture–plant interactions and legacies in a dryland ecosystem
In many regions of the world, climate change is projected to reduce water availability through changes in the hydrological cycle, including more frequent and intense droughts, as well as seasonal shifts in precipitation. In water-limited ecosystems, such as drylands, lower soil water availability may exceed the adaptive capacity of many organisms...
Hoover, Dave; Pfennigwerth, Alix A.; Duniway, Michael C.
Year Published: 2021
Revisiting the declustering of spatial data with preferential sampling
Preferential sampling is a form of data collection that may significantly distort the histogram and the semivariogram of spatially correlated data. Typical situations are a higher sampling density at high-valued areas favorable for mining, and highly contaminated areas in need of environmental remediation. Multiple statistical procedures are...
Olea, Ricardo
Year Published: 2021
Migration stopover ecology of Cinnamon Teal in western North America
Identifying migration routes and fall stopover sites of Cinnamon Teal (Spatula cyanoptera septentrionalium) can provide a spatial guide to management and conservation efforts, and address vulnerabilities in wetland networks that support migratory waterbirds. Using high spatiotemporal resolution GPS-GSM transmitters, we analyzed 61 fall...
Mackell, Desmond Alexander; Casazza, Michael L.; Overton, Cory T.; Donnelly, J. Patrick; Olson, David; McDuie, Fiona; Ackerman, Joshua T.; Eadie, John M.Attribution: Western Ecological Research Center, Ecosystems
Year Published: 2021
A stable isotope record of late Quaternary hydrologic change in the northwestern Brooks Range, Alaska (eastern Beringia)
A submillennial-resolution record of lake water oxygen isotope composition (δ18O) from chironomid head capsules is presented from Burial Lake, northwest Alaska. The record spans the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; ~20–16k cal a bp) to the present and shows a series of large lake δ18O shifts (~5‰). Relatively low δ18O values occurred during a...
King, Amanda L.; Anderson, Lesleigh; Abbott, Mark B.; Edwards, Mary; Finkenbinder, Matthew S.; Finney, Bruce P.; Wooller, Matthew