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
The transformation of dryland rivers: The future of introduced tamarisk in the U.S.
Riparian area changes in greenness and water use on the Lower Colorado River in the USA from 2000-2020
Literature reviewed estimates of riparian consumptive water use in the drylands of Northeast Arizona, USA
Climate sensitivity of water use by riparian woodlands at landscape scales
Ecohydrological responses to surface flow across borders: Two decades of changes in vegetation greenness and water use in the riparian corridor of the Colorado River Delta
Effect of spatial resolution of satellite images on estimating the greenness and evapotranspiration of urban green spaces
Vegetation‐groundwater dynamics at a former uranium mill site following invasion of a biocontrol agent: A time series analysis of Landsat normalized difference vegetation index data
Effect of an environmental flow on vegetation growth and health using ground and remote sensing metrics
Remote sensing of dryland ecosystem structure and function: Progress, challenges, and opportunities
Remote sensing vegetation index methods to evaluate changes in greenness and evapotranspiration in riparian vegetation in response to the Minute 319 environmental pulse flow to Mexico
Short-term and long-term evapotranspiration rates at ecological restoration sites along a large river receiving rare flow events
Northern tamarisk beetle (Diorhabda carinulata) and tamarisk (Tamarix spp.) interactions in the Colorado River basin
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Filter Total Items: 77
The transformation of dryland rivers: The future of introduced tamarisk in the U.S.
Tamarix spp. (tamarisk or saltcedar), a shrub-like tree, was intentionally introduced to the U.S. from Asia in the mid-1800s. Tamarisk thrives in today’s human-altered streamside (riparian) habitats and can be found along wetlands, rivers, lakes, and streams across the western U.S. In 2001, a biological control agent, Diorhabda spp. (tamarisk leaf beetle), was released in six states, and has sinceAuthorsPamela L. Nagler, Julia B. Hull, Charles van Riper, Patrick B. Shafroth, Charles B. YackulicRiparian area changes in greenness and water use on the Lower Colorado River in the USA from 2000-2020
Declines in riparian ecosystem greenness and water use have been observed in the delta of the Lower Colorado River (LCR) since 2000. The purpose of our case study was to measure these metrics on the U.S. side of the border between Hoover and Morelos Dams to see if declining greenness was unique to the portion of the river in Mexico. In this case study, five riparian reaches of the LCR from HooverAuthorsPamela L. Nagler, Armando Barreto-Muñoz, Sattar Chavoshi Borujeni, Hamideh Nouri, Christopher J. Jarchow, Kamel DidanLiterature reviewed estimates of riparian consumptive water use in the drylands of Northeast Arizona, USA
This report provides the best estimates of riparian area evapotranspiration (ET) on the rivers and streams of the Navajo Nation by (1) quantifying the natural riparian vegetation water use within the Little Colorado River watershed using a literature search for comparable riparian ET estimates, and (2) in conjunction with the given area of stream-side plant cover on the Navajo Nation, provides theAuthorsPamela L. NaglerClimate sensitivity of water use by riparian woodlands at landscape scales
Semi‐arid riparian woodlands face threats from increasing extractive water demand and climate change in dryland landscapes worldwide. Improved landscape‐scale understanding of riparian woodland water use (evapotranspiration, ET) and its sensitivity to climate variables is needed to strategically manage water resources, as well as to create successful ecosystem conservation and restoration plans foAuthorsMarc Mayes, Kelly K. Caylor, Michael B. Singer, John C Stella, Dar Roberts, Pamela L. NaglerEcohydrological responses to surface flow across borders: Two decades of changes in vegetation greenness and water use in the riparian corridor of the Colorado River Delta
Hydrological and bioclimatic processes that lead to drought may stress plants and wildlife, restructure plant community type and architecture, increase monotypic stands and bare soils, facilitate the invasion of non‐native plant species and accelerate soil erosion. Our study focuses on the impact of a paucity of Colorado River surface flows from the United States (U.S.) to Mexico. We measured chanAuthorsPamela L. Nagler, Armando Barreto-Muñoz, Sattar Chavoshi Borujeni, Christopher J. Jarchow, Marth M. Gómez‐Sapiens, Hamideh Nouri, Stefanie M. Herrmann, Kamel DidanEffect of spatial resolution of satellite images on estimating the greenness and evapotranspiration of urban green spaces
Urban green spaces (UGS), like most managed land covers, are getting progressively affected by water scarcity and drought. Preserving, restoring and expanding UGS require sustainable management of green and blue water resources to fulfil evapotranspiration (ET) demand for green plant cover. The heterogeneity of UGS with high variation in their microclimates and irrigation practices builds up the cAuthorsHamideh Nouri, Pamela L. Nagler, Sattar Chavoshi Borujeni, Armando Barreto Munez, Sina Alaghmand, Behnaz Noori, Alejandro Galindo, Kamel DidanVegetation‐groundwater dynamics at a former uranium mill site following invasion of a biocontrol agent: A time series analysis of Landsat normalized difference vegetation index data
Because groundwater recharge in dry regions is generally low, arid and semiarid environments have been considered well‐suited for long‐term isolation of hazardous materials (e.g., radioactive waste). In these dry regions, water lost (transpired) by plants and evaporated from the soil surface, collectively termed evapotranspiration (ET), is usually the primary discharge component in the water balanAuthorsChristopher J. Jarchow, William J. Waugh, Kamel Didan, Armando Barreto-Munoz, Stefanie M. Herrmann, Pamela L. NaglerEffect of an environmental flow on vegetation growth and health using ground and remote sensing metrics
Understanding the effectiveness of environmental flow deliveries along rivers requires monitoring vegetation. Monitoring data are often collected at multiple spatial scales. For riparian vegetation, optical remote sensing methods can estimate growth responses at the riparian corridor scale, and field‐based measures can quantify species composition; however, the extent to which these different measAuthorsMartha M. Gomez-Sapiens, Christopher Jarchow, Karl W. Flessa, Patrick B. Shafroth, Edward P. Glenn, Pamela L. NaglerRemote sensing of dryland ecosystem structure and function: Progress, challenges, and opportunities
Drylands make up roughly 40% of the Earth's land surface, and billions of people depend on services provided by these critically important ecosystems. Despite their relatively sparse vegetation, dryland ecosystems are structurally and functionally diverse, and emerging evidence suggests that these ecosystems play a dominant role in the trend and variability of the terrestrial carbon sink. More, drAuthorsWilliam K. Smith, Matthew P. Dannenberg, Dong Yan, Stephanie Herrmann, Mallory L. Barnes, Greg A. Barron-Gafford, Joel A. Biederman, Scott Ferrenberg, Andrew M. Fox, Amy R. Hudson, John F. Knowles, Natasha MacBean, David J.P. Moore, Pamela L. Nagler, Sasha C. Reed, William A. Rutherford, Russell L. Scott, Xianfeng Wang, Julia YangRemote sensing vegetation index methods to evaluate changes in greenness and evapotranspiration in riparian vegetation in response to the Minute 319 environmental pulse flow to Mexico
During the spring of 2014, 130 million m3 of water were released from the United States' Morelos Dam on the lower Colorado River to Mexico, allowing water to reach the Gulf of California for the first time in 13 years. Our study assessed the effects of water transfer or ecological environmental flows from one nation to another, using remote sensing. Spatial applications for water resource evaluatiAuthorsPamela L. Nagler, Christopher J. Jarchow, Edward P. GlennShort-term and long-term evapotranspiration rates at ecological restoration sites along a large river receiving rare flow events
Many large rivers around the world no longer flow to their deltas, due to ever greater water withdrawals and diversions for human needs. However, the importance of riparian ecosystems is drawing increasing recognition, leading to the allocation of environmental flows to restore river processes. Accurate estimates of riparian plant evapotranspiration (ET) are needed to understand how the riverine sAuthorsMargaret Shanafield, Hugo Gutierrez Jurado, Jesús Eliana Rodríguez Burgueño, Jorge Ramírez Hernández, Christopher Jarchow, Pamela L. NaglerNorthern tamarisk beetle (Diorhabda carinulata) and tamarisk (Tamarix spp.) interactions in the Colorado River basin
Northern tamarisk beetles (Diorhabda carinulata) were released in the Upper Colorado River Basin in the United States in 2004–2007 to defoliate introduced tamarisk shrubs (Tamarix spp.) in the region’s riparian zones. The primary purpose was to control the invasive shrub and reduce evapotranspiration (ET) by tamarisk in an attempt to increase stream flows. We evaluated beetle–tamarisk interactiAuthorsPamela L. Nagler, Uyen Nguyen, Heather L. Bateman, Christopher Jarchow, Edward P. Glenn, William J. Waugh, Charles van Riper - News