Pamela Nagler, Ph.D.
Expertise: Remote sensing applications in ecohydrology with a focus on scaling ground-based evapotranspiration (water use) measurements of plants in riparian ecosystems, their uplands and adjacent agriculture fields. Applications include mapping vegetation communities and phenological change in the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts and the transboundary region of northwestern Mexico and southwestern U.S.
Dr. Pamela Nagler’s interest in landscapes developed naturally through her experiences with a variety of lands and cultures throughout her early years. She first worked with USGS as a hydrological technician with the Water Resources Division, mentored by Drs. Jake Peters and Jamie Shanley. After obtaining a B.S. in Geography, Pamela interned with the late Barry Bishop (a member of the first American team to reach the summit of Mount Everest in 1963) at the National Geographic Society in Washington DC, where she was greatly influenced to pursue her passion for geography as a career. She then worked for the Solid Waste Division of the EPA followed by a couple of years with the Defense Mapping Agency. At the University of Maryland at College Park, Pamela earned an M.A. in Geography with an emphasis on Land Remote Sensing; her Advisor, Dr. Sam Goward, served as the Landsat Science Team Leader from 1992 and completed Landsat’s Enduring Legacy: 50 years in 2017. As his mentee, she gained experience and skills needed to address environmental applications using remote sensing tools. During her Master’s program, Pamela had a research assistantship with the USDA Agriculture Research Service under the guidance of Dr. Craig Daughtry, and helped develop techniques using hyperspectral data to distinguish soil from litter in the landscape. Pamela continued this research in Japan with a fellowship sponsored by NSF. Dr. Yoshio Inoue, her academic host at the Japan National Institute of Agro-Environmental Studies in 1996-1997, encouraged Pamela to return to the US to continue her academic studies. Pamela spent time in ten Asian countries before starting her Ph.D. research with Dr. Alfredo Huete at the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ. Pamela's dissertation research used remote sensing tools to study environmental applications in the Colorado River delta in Mexico and her post-doctoral work with Dr. Edward Glenn was funded through a NASA grant. With direction from Ed Glenn, she studied seaweed productivity while living in Molokai, Hawaii, phytoremediation at DOE Legacy Mine sites on Navajo Nation near Monument Valley, and conservation and policy of the Colorado River Delta in the Borderlands of the U.S. and Mexico. Pamela received a PECASE Award at the White House with POTUS Obama in 2010, became a Kavli Fellow with the Academy of Sciences in 2011, and was internationally recognized by CSIRO in 2013. Pamela spent a year at CSIRO in their Land and Water Division in Adelaide, South Australia. Pamela serves students in three departments at the University of Arizona, including SNRE, SWES and more recently, Biosystems Engineering. She also serves on three journal Editorial Boards and as a Board Member of the FWS Sonoran Joint Venture.
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. - 2001, Soil, Water, and Environmental Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.
M.A. - 1997, Geography, University of Maryland. College Park, MD.
B.S. - 1989, Geography, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.
Science and Products
Effects of drought on birds and riparian vegetation in the Colorado River Delta, Mexico
Tamarisk: ecohydrology of a successful plant
Assessing future risks to agricultural productivity, water resources and food security: How can remote sensing help?
A simple method for estimating basin-scale groundwater discharge by vegetation in the basin and range province of Arizona using remote sensing information and geographic information systems
Roles of saltcedar (Tamarix spp.) and capillary rise in salinizing a non-flooding terrace on a flow-regulated desert river
Vegetation dynamics in response to water inflow rates and fire in a brackish Typha domingensis Pers. marsh in the delta of the Colorado River, Mexico
Hyperspectral remote sensing tools for quantifying plant litter and invasive species in arid ecosystems
Roles of saltcedar (Tamarix spp.) and capillary rise in salinizing a non-flooding terrace on a flow-regulated desert river
Regional scale impacts of Tamarix leaf beetles (Diorhabda carinulata) on the water availability of western U.S. rivers as determined by multi-scale remote sensing methods
The role of remote sensing observations and models in hydrology: The science of evapotranspiration
Distribution and abundance of saltcedar and Russian olive in the western United States
Potential for water salvage by removal of non-native woody vegetation from dryland river systems
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Filter Total Items: 77
Effects of drought on birds and riparian vegetation in the Colorado River Delta, Mexico
The riparian corridor in the delta of the Colorado River in Mexico supports internationally important bird habitat. The vegetation is maintained by surface flows from the U.S. and Mexico and by a high, non-saline aquifer into which the dominant phreatophytic shrubs and trees are rooted. We studied the effects of a regional drought on riparian vegetation and avian abundance and diversity from 2002AuthorsOsvel Hinojosa-Huerta, Pamela L. Nagler, Yamilett K. Carrillo-Guererro, Edward P. GlennTamarisk: ecohydrology of a successful plant
The title of this chapter is adapted from an influential 1987 paper, "Tamarix: Impacts of a Successful Weed" (Brotherson and Field, 1987). That paper made the case for tamarisk (Tamarix spp.) removal, as a high-water-use, invasive species that out-competed and displaced native vegetation on western U.S. rivers. The paper declared that tamarisk was capable of drying up water courses, using as muchAuthorsPamela L. Nagler, Martin F. QuigleyAssessing future risks to agricultural productivity, water resources and food security: How can remote sensing help?
Although global food production has been rising, the world sti ll faces a major food security challenge. Over one billion people are currently undernourished (Wheeler and Kay, 2010). By the 2050s, the human population is projected to grow to 9.1 billion. Over three-quarters of these people will be living in developing countries, in regions that already lack the capacity to feed their populations .AuthorsPrasad S. Thenkabail, Jerry W. Knox, Mutlu Ozdogan, Murali Krishna Gumma, Russell G. Congalton, Zhuoting Wu, Cristina Milesi, Alex Finkral, Mike Marshall, Isabella Mariotto, Songcai You, Chandra Giri, Pamela NaglerA simple method for estimating basin-scale groundwater discharge by vegetation in the basin and range province of Arizona using remote sensing information and geographic information systems
Groundwater is a vital water resource in the arid to semi-arid southwestern United States. Accurate accounting of inflows to and outflows from the groundwater system is necessary to effectively manage this shared resource, including the important outflow component of groundwater discharge by vegetation. A simple method for estimating basin-scale groundwater discharge by vegetation is presented thaAuthorsF.D. Tillman, J.B. Callegary, P.L. Nagler, E.P. GlennRoles of saltcedar (Tamarix spp.) and capillary rise in salinizing a non-flooding terrace on a flow-regulated desert river
Tamarix spp. (saltcedar) secretes salts and has been considered to be a major factor contributing to the salinization of river terraces in western US riparian zones. However, salinization can also occur from the capillary rise of salts from the aquifer into the vadose zone. We investigated the roles of saltcedar and physical factors in salinizing the soil profile of a non-flooding terrace at sitesAuthorsEdward P. Glenn, Kiyomi Morino, Pamela L. Nagler, R. Scott Murray, Susanna Pearlstein, Kevin R. HultineVegetation dynamics in response to water inflow rates and fire in a brackish Typha domingensis Pers. marsh in the delta of the Colorado River, Mexico
The Cienega de Santa Clara is a 5600 ha, anthropogenic wetland in the delta of the Colorado River in Mexico. It is the inadvertent creation of the disposal of brackish agricultural waste water from the U.S. into the intertidal zone of the river delta in Mexico, but has become an internationally important wetland for resident and migratory water birds. We used high resolution Quickbird and WorldVieAuthorsLourdes Mexicano, Pamela L. Nagler, Francisco Zamora-Arroyo, Edward P. GlennHyperspectral remote sensing tools for quantifying plant litter and invasive species in arid ecosystems
Green vegetation can be monitored and distinguished using visible and infrared multiband and hyperspectral remote sensing methods. The problem has been in identifying and distinguishing the nonphotosynthetically active radiation (PAR) landscape components, such as litters and soils, from green vegetation [35-38]. Additionally, distinguishing different species of green vegetation is challenging usiAuthorsPamela L. Nagler, B. B. Maruthi Sridhar, Aaryn Dyami Olsson, Edward P. Glenn, Willem J.D. van LeeuwenRoles of saltcedar (Tamarix spp.) and capillary rise in salinizing a non-flooding terrace on a flow-regulated desert river
Tamarix spp. (saltcedar) secretes salts and has been considered to be a major factor contributing to the salinization of river terraces in western US riparian zones. However, salinization can also occur from the capillary rise of salts from the aquifer into the vadose zone. We investigated the roles of saltcedar and physical factors in salinizing the soil profile of a non-flooding terrace at sitesAuthorsE.P. Glenn, K. Morino, Pamela L. Nagler, R.S. Murray, S. Pearlstein, K.R. HultineRegional scale impacts of Tamarix leaf beetles (Diorhabda carinulata) on the water availability of western U.S. rivers as determined by multi-scale remote sensing methods
Tamarix leaf beetles (Diorhabda carinulata) have been widely released on western U.S. rivers to control introduced shrubs in the genus Tamarix. Part of the motivation to control Tamarix is to salvage water for human use. Information is needed on the impact of beetles on Tamarix seasonal leaf production and subsequent water use overwide areas andmultiple cycles of annual defoliation.Herewe combineAuthorsPamela L. Nagler, Tim Brown, Kevin R. Hultine, Charles van Riper, Daniel W. Bean, Philip E. Dennison, R. Scott Murray, Edward P. GlennThe role of remote sensing observations and models in hydrology: The science of evapotranspiration
Over 15 years ago, Morton (1994) summarized the state of evapotranspiration (ET) research pessimistically: ‘There have been few significant advances in our knowledge of evaporation on an environmental scale over the past four decades, a state of affairs linked to the current sterility of hydrology and related environmental sciences. Furthermore, almost none of the advances have been used successfulAuthorsPamela NaglerDistribution and abundance of saltcedar and Russian olive in the western United States
Over the past century, two introduced Eurasian trees, saltcedar (Tamarix spp.) and Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia) have become wide spread on western United States of American (U.S.) rivers. This paper reviews the literature on the following five key areas related to their distribution and abundance in the western United States: (1) the history of introduction, planting, and spread of saltcAuthorsPamela L. Nagler, Edward P. Glenn, Catherine S. Jarnevich, Patrick B. ShafrothPotential for water salvage by removal of non-native woody vegetation from dryland river systems
Globally, expansion of non-native woody vegetation across floodplains has raised concern of increased evapotranspiration (ET) water loss with consequent reduced river flows and groundwater supplies. Water salvage programs, established to meet water supply demands by removing introduced species, show little documented evidence of program effectiveness. We use two case studies in the USA and AustralAuthorsT.M. Doody, P.L. Nagler, E.P. Glenn, G. W. Moore, K. Morino, K.R. Hultine, R.G. Benyon - News