Sarah Stackpoole

I am a Research Ecologist with the US Geological Survey in Denver. I completed my undergraduate studies at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, my graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and I joined the USGS in 2009. I use field studies along with large-scale data assimilation and statistical approaches to document surface water quality status and trends. I also use a variety of methods to integrate water quality metrics with climate and land-use datasets to identify drivers of change in surface water quality and potential stressors on human and aquatic ecosystem health.  

Current and Past Projects:

• National Scale Interpretation of Pesticides, PFAS, and Geogenic Constituents in Surface and Groundwater (2023 – Present) Project Leader, Quantify changes in surface and groundwater pesticides, PFAS, and geogenics and determine if the changes affect water availability for either human or ecological use.  
• Harmful Algal Blooms (2020 - Present) Assess the vulnerability of river systems to harmful algal blooms at a regional to national scales.  
• Integrated Water Availability Assessments (2020 - Present) Identify drivers of change in surface water quality and potential stressors on human and aquatic ecosystem health. 
• National Water Quality Assessment - Surface Water Status and Trends (2018 - 2021) Document the impact of current and past anthropogenic phosphorus sources on soil saturation and water quality. Characterize the occurrence and distribution of pesticides in surface waters. 
• USGS LandCarbon Team (2009 - 2017) Assimilate large-scale datasets and determine the best statistical models and extrapolation methods to provide an assessment of current rates of freshwater carbon storage, transport, and emissions for the conterminous United States and Alaska. LandCarbon (usgs.gov)