Robert F Stallard
Robert Stallard has been at the USGS since 1987 and is now a Scientist Emeritus in the Hydro-Eco Interactions Branch of the Earth Systems Processing Division of the USGS Water Resources Mission Area.
Robert Stallard has been at the USGS since 1987 and is now a Scientist Emeritus in the Hydro-Eco Interactions Branch of the Earth Systems Processing Division of the Water Mission Area. He studies how land-cover and climate change affect water movement through soils, weathering, and erosion, and how these, in turn, affect the composition and dispersal of dissolved and solid phases in rivers and trace gases in the atmosphere. Areas of expertise include surface-water hydrology, major element and nutrient biogeochemistry, soil formation and sediment genesis, vegetation-landscape interaction, carbon-cycle characterization on land and in the ocean, and assessment of land-use and climate change. His work has included the study of natural and human-altered landscapes, in the Americas, Southeast Asia, and Africa, including large parts of the Amazon, Orinoco, Mississippi, and Panama Canal Basins and eastern Puerto Rico.
Most of his current efforts are committed to a multi-catchment investigations designed to distinguish the roles of vegetation, climate, and land-cover change and to put this in a hydrologic and biogeochemical framework as well as to examine ecosystem costs and services focusing on water, carbon, and biodiversity. Two projects currently consume most of his USGS time: (1) Work related to the Luquillo USGS Water, Energy, and Biogeochemical Budget (WEBB) Project in eastern Puerto Rico and parallel work in Panama, which has as a goal the comprehensive assessment of catchment hydrology and biogeochemistry in a hydrologically energetic landscapes. (2) The Agua Salud Project in the Central Panama Canal Basin examines the manifold effects of different styles of reforestation as compared to mature forested and deforested catchments. The project started in 2008 and involves 13 small watersheds with different land covers.
EDUCATION
- National Research Council Post-Doctoral Fellowship: 1981, At the U.S. Geological Survey - Office of Marine Geology, Woods Hole, MA. Clay mineralogy of the Amazon River system.
- Ph.D., Chemical Oceanography: 1980, Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program in Oceanography. Ph.D. thesis entitled "Major Element Geochemistry of the Amazon River System."
- B.S., Earth & Planetary Sciences: 1974, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Emphasis in Planetary Physics and Chemistry.
Science and Products
A unified assessment of hydrological and biogeochemical responses in research watersheds in Eastern Puerto Rico using runoff-concentration relations
Effect of land cover and use on dry season river runoff, runoff efficiency, and peak storm runoff in the seasonal tropics of Central Panama
How old is the Isthmus of Panama?
Hydrology and climate of four watersheds in eastern Puerto Rico: Chapter C in Water quality and landscape processes of four watersheds in eastern Puerto Rico
Weathering processes in the Rio Icacos and Rio Mameyes watersheds in Eastern Puerto Rico: Chapter I in Water quality and landscape processes of four watersheds in eastern Puerto Rico
Physiography, geology, and land cover of four watersheds in eastern Puerto Rico: Chapter A in Water quality and landscape processes of four watersheds in eastern Puerto Rico
Weathering, landscape equilibrium, and carbon in four watersheds in eastern Puerto Rico: Chapter H in Water quality and landscape processes of four watersheds in eastern Puerto Rico
Land use, population dynamics, and land-cover change in eastern Puerto Rico: Chapter B in Water quality and landscape processes of four watersheds in eastern Puerto Rico
Effects of earthworms on slopewash, surface runoff, and fine-litter transport on a humid-tropical forested hillslope in eastern Puerto Rico: Chapter G in Water quality and landscape processes of four watersheds in eastern Puerto Rico
Landslides and sediment budgets in four watersheds in eastern Puerto Rico: Chapter F in Water quality and landscape processes of four watersheds in eastern Puerto Rico
The low-latitude regions of the Earth are undergoing profound, rapid landscape change as forests are converted to agriculture to support growing population. Understanding the effects of these land-use changes requires analysis of watershed-scale geomorphic processes to better inform and manage this usually disorganized process. The investigation of hillslope erosion and the development of sediment
Atmospheric inputs to watersheds of the Luquillo Mountains in eastern Puerto Rico: Chapter D in Water quality and landscape processes of four watersheds in eastern Puerto Rico
Water quality and mass transport in four watersheds in eastern Puerto Rico: Chapter E in Water quality and landscape processes of four watersheds in eastern Puerto Rico
Science and Products
A unified assessment of hydrological and biogeochemical responses in research watersheds in Eastern Puerto Rico using runoff-concentration relations
Effect of land cover and use on dry season river runoff, runoff efficiency, and peak storm runoff in the seasonal tropics of Central Panama
How old is the Isthmus of Panama?
Hydrology and climate of four watersheds in eastern Puerto Rico: Chapter C in Water quality and landscape processes of four watersheds in eastern Puerto Rico
Weathering processes in the Rio Icacos and Rio Mameyes watersheds in Eastern Puerto Rico: Chapter I in Water quality and landscape processes of four watersheds in eastern Puerto Rico
Physiography, geology, and land cover of four watersheds in eastern Puerto Rico: Chapter A in Water quality and landscape processes of four watersheds in eastern Puerto Rico
Weathering, landscape equilibrium, and carbon in four watersheds in eastern Puerto Rico: Chapter H in Water quality and landscape processes of four watersheds in eastern Puerto Rico
Land use, population dynamics, and land-cover change in eastern Puerto Rico: Chapter B in Water quality and landscape processes of four watersheds in eastern Puerto Rico
Effects of earthworms on slopewash, surface runoff, and fine-litter transport on a humid-tropical forested hillslope in eastern Puerto Rico: Chapter G in Water quality and landscape processes of four watersheds in eastern Puerto Rico
Landslides and sediment budgets in four watersheds in eastern Puerto Rico: Chapter F in Water quality and landscape processes of four watersheds in eastern Puerto Rico
The low-latitude regions of the Earth are undergoing profound, rapid landscape change as forests are converted to agriculture to support growing population. Understanding the effects of these land-use changes requires analysis of watershed-scale geomorphic processes to better inform and manage this usually disorganized process. The investigation of hillslope erosion and the development of sediment