Michael Focazio, PhD (Former Employee)

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists and collaborators discovered that long-wave ultraviolet (UV) light directed at the wings of bats with white-nose syndrome (WNS) produced points of distinctive orange-yellow fluorescence. The orange-yellow glow corresponds directly with microscopic skin lesions that define the current "gold standard" for diagnosing WNS. White-nose syndrome, a fungal disease...

Studies conducted in subalpine streams in Colorado by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists found that aqueous metals resulting from acid mine drainage and natural weathering can almost eliminate adult insect emergence from streams, even at metal levels too low to reduce aquatic larval densities. This pattern suggests that adult insects might be a more sensitive indicator of metals than...

Animal manure and biosolids, the solid byproduct of wastewater treatment, often are applied to agricultural crops to provide nutrients for plant growth and to improve the quality of soil. Earthworms studied in agricultural fields where manure and biosolids were applied have been found to contain organic chemicals from household products and manure. Earthworms continuously ingest soils and may...

Waters produced as a byproduct of oil and gas development were found to yield high concentrations of disinfection byproducts (DBPs) when treated. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) sampled stream waters upstream and downstream of the outfall of Publicly Owned Wastewater Treatment Works (POTWs), POTWs that receive and treat waters produced by conventional and unconventional oil and gas development...

“Legacy contaminants” and “contaminants of emerging concern” that persist in the environment are affecting the health of fish and wildlife in the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed. State continue to report impaired water resources due to the persistence and toxicity of some previously banned pollutants. In addition, other contaminants of emerging concern are released to the environment at levels...

Chemical contaminants including herbicides, veterinary pharmaceuticals, and biogenic hormones have been detected at fish nesting sites in the Potomac River watershed where endocrine disruption in smallmouth bass ( Micropterus dolomieu) was also observed. Although these contaminants are known to originate from a variety of human and animal-waste sources, results of a recent U.S. Geological Survey (...

Natural processes in stream ecosystems such as dilution and microbial degradation are known to attenuate some contaminants to below levels that can cause harm to ecosystems. However, a team of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists has shown that many chemicals discharged from municipal wastewater treatment facilities persist for miles downstream at levels known, or suspected, to cause adverse...

Hormones from biosolids applied to fields may be present in rainfall runoff at concentrations that are high enough to impact the health of aquatic organisms if the runoff reaches streams, report scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Colorado State University in Environmental Science and Technology. Artificial rainfall runoff from agricultural test plots where biosolids were applied...

A detergent degradation product (4-nonylphenol) and a biogenic hormone (17β-estradiol) added to the Redwood River, Minnesota, were attenuated by biodegradation and other natural processes. These are the findings of a team of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and University of Colorado scientists.

A team of scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the University of Colorado, and the City of Boulder, Colorado, demonstrated that improvements to the treatment process at a wastewater treatment facility (WWTF) reduced the level of endocrine disruption in fish exposed to wastewater effluent discharged from the facility. It is difficult to anticipate the effects that upgrading WWTF...

The new U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Environmental Health Science Strategy is one of seven recently released science strategies that span the portfolio of USGS science. Climate and Land Use Change Core Science Systems Ecosystems Energy and Mineral Resources Environmental Health Natural Hazards Water

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists have documented adverse health effects on populations of native soil bacteria exposed to levels of the antibiotic (SMX) below those used to treat diseases (subtherapeutic). Because SMX has been found in environmental waters by many previous studies, the scientists conducted laboratory exposure experiments to determine the effect of SMX on native bacteria...