Rob leads groundwater data collection efforts including state-wide synoptics and fractured-rock aquifer monitoring. He is reponsible for field operations using 10- and 5-ton hydraulic derricks, a truck-mounted direct-push sampler, portable soil and rock boring rigs, and other equipment. He has led cooperative projects with the State of New Jersey and EPA.
Rob has worked for USGS since 1980.
Professional Experience
2005-2021 USGS Toxics Substances Hydrology Program Fractured Bedrock Research Site- NAWC. Continuous groundwater level and stream flow data collection networks, and straddle packer systems for multiple wells. Create and maintain a packer testing facility. Assist multiple research groups from government, academia, and industry.
Delaware River Basin NAWQA- Collect core samples and sediment for phase 1, and water levels for phase 2.
1984-2021: Install and maintain network of continuous water-level recorders, Collect punctuated water-level data, Collect groundwater and surface-water samples, Geologic logging, Drill/Hammer and install shallow piezometers with the mobile drill rig and direct push tools, Well development, Install piezometers and collect water-level and water-quality data from groundwater below streambeds,
Install soil gas probes and collect soil-gas probe data, Install submersible pumps for aquifer tests, water-quality sampling and other specialized borehole data collection, Collect drive point samples and cores in glacial and Coastal Plain sediments, Set straddle packers, collect packed zone pressure data, Provide assistance on surface and borehole geophysics, Collect slug test data.
1996: Project Chief: Potentiometric Surfaces of the Potomac-Raritan-Magothy Aquifer System near National Park, New Jersey
1989-1993: Acting Field Operations Chief
1988-1991: Project Chief: Water Levels in Major Artesian Aquifers of the New Jersey Coastal Plain
1982-1983: Volunteer Museum of Natural History- Mineral Sciences Dept.
1980-1982: Hydrologic Field Assistant, Colorado
Pinelands Acid Rain, Atlantic County, Camden County, South River, Lake Hopatcong, Cumberland County, Picatinny Arsenal, Rutgers University, Lamington, Passaic Tunnel, McDonalds Branch, Princeton University, Fairlawn, Chloride synoptic, Sandy Hook, Forsythe Refuge Center, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, Atlantic Highlands Landslide, Colts Neck synoptic,
Beaufort, SC, Warminster and Lansdale , PA, Otis Air Force Base, MA, Mercury, LINJ NAWQA, Pine Lake Gain/Loss project, IWASS sampling, Delaware Geoprobe coring, Delmarva Groundwater Network, Virginia Geoprobe coring
Coastal Plain water-level synoptics, 1988, 1993, 1998, 2003, 2008, 2013, 2018
Education and Certifications
B.A. in Earth and Environmental Sciences from Queens College (of the City University of NY) in 1979
Science and Products
Contaminant Fate and Transport Studies in Fractured Sedimentary Rock Aquifers at the former Naval Air Warfare Center (NAWC), West Trenton, N.J.
Water Levels in the Ten Major Confined Aquifers of the New Jersey Coastal Plain
Science and Products
- Science
Contaminant Fate and Transport Studies in Fractured Sedimentary Rock Aquifers at the former Naval Air Warfare Center (NAWC), West Trenton, N.J.
Contaminants associated with industrial, airport, and other activities are present in groundwater in fractured-rock aquifers, posing long-term hazards to drinking-water supplies and ecosystems. The heterogeneous character of fractured rock challenges our understanding, monitoring, and remediation of such sites.Water Levels in the Ten Major Confined Aquifers of the New Jersey Coastal Plain
The Coastal Plain aquifers of New Jersey provide an important source of water for more than 3.5 million people. The USGS, in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, has been measuring water levels in the confined aquifers of the New Jersey Coastal Plain every five years beginning in 1978. Persistent, regionally extensive cones of depression are present in Ocean and... - Publications