Stephanie Gordon
Biography
Stephanie started with the USGS as a volunteer with the Eastern Geographic Science Center in 2015 working on the Sediment-bound Contaminant Resiliency and Response (SCoRR) project and has since worked on a diverse variety of projects. Her research includes using geospatial tools to quantify landscape contaminant sources and understand relationships to biological endpoints. This work has focused on landscape sources of endocrine disrupting compounds in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed and their relationship to fish health and water quality; data management and mapping support for USGS Chesapeake Bay activities; and includes similar work on harmful algal blooms and shallow well contamination at national and regional scales.
Education:
- M.S., 2019, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA Thesis: Population Dynamics and Pharmaceutical Contamination in Streams and Rivers Across the United States
- B.A., 2013, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA
Professional Experience:
- 2018 to present: Geographer, U.S. Geological Survey, Leetown Science Center, Kearneysville, West Virginia
- 2015 to 2017: Student Contractor – Geography, U.S. Geological Survey, Eastern Geographic Science Center, Reston, Virginia
Science and Products
USGS Integrates Findings about Endocrine-Disrupting Compounds in the Chesapeake Watershed
Issue: Studies in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed have documented the exposure of fish to toxic contaminants including endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) - compounds which can alter normal hormonal function in organisms. Given the importance of fisheries to the economic and environmental health of the Watershed, observed endocrine disruption and fish kills in the Watershed...
Geospatial Analyses and Applications — Salt Lake City, Utah
About the Research
The Environmental Health Program collaborates with scientists within the Geospatial Analyses and Applications Team to develop and apply geospatial analytical methods to answer broad-scale questions about source-sink and cause-effect relationships between contaminants and vulnerable communities. Multivariate statistics are used to identify connections...
Endocrine Disrupting Compounds in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Science Team
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States and provides critical resources to fish, wildlife and people. For more than a decade, recreational fish species have been plagued with skin lesions and intersex conditions (the presence of male and female sex characteristics in the same fish) that biologists attributed to exposures to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs)....
Perfluoroalkyl substances in plasma of smallmouth bass from the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu is an economically important sportfish and within the Chesapeake Bay watershed has experienced a high prevalence of external lesions, infectious disease, mortality events, reproductive endocrine disruption and population declines. To date, no clear or consistent associations with contaminants measured...
Blazer, Vicki S.; Gordon, Stephanie; Walsh, Heather L.; Smith, Cheyenne R. Environmental and anthropogenic drivers of contaminants in agricultural watersheds with implications for land management
If not managed properly, modern agricultural practices can alter surface and groundwater quality and drinking water resources resulting in potential negative effects on aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Exposure to agriculturally derived contaminant mixtures has the potential to alter habitat quality and negatively affect fish and other aquatic...
Smalling, Kelly; Devereux, Olivia H.; Gordon, Stephanie; Phillips, Patrick J.; Blazer, Vicki S.; Hladik, Michelle; Kolpin, Dana W.; Meyer, Michael T.; Sperry, Adam; Wagner, Tyler Modeling estrogenic activity in streams throughout the Potomac and Chesapeake Bay watersheds
Endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs), specifically estrogenic endocrine-disrupting compounds, vary in concentration and composition in surface waters under the influence of different landscape sources and landcover gradients. Estrogenic activity in surface waters may lead to adverse effects in aquatic species at both individual and population...
Gordon, Stephanie; Jones, Daniel K.; Blazer, Vicki S.; Iwanowicz, Luke R.; Williams, Brianna; Smalling, Kelly Retrospective analysis of estrogenic endocrine disruption and land-use influences in the Chesapeake Bay watershed
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States and its watershed includes river drainages in six states and the District of Columbia. Sportfishing is of major economic interest, however, the rivers within the watershed provide numerous other ecological, recreational, cultural and economic benefits, as well as serving as a drinking...
Blazer, Vicki S.; Gordon, Stephanie; Jones, Daniel K.; Iwanowicz, Luke R.; Walsh, Heather L.; Sperry, Adam; Smalling, Kelly A method to quantify and value floodplain sediment and nutrient retention ecosystem services
Floodplains provide critical ecosystem services to local and downstream communities by retaining floodwaters, sediments, and nutrients. The dynamic nature of floodplains is such that these areas can both accumulate sediment and nutrients through deposition, and export material downstream through erosion. Therefore, estimating floodplain sediment...
Hopkins, Kristina G.; Noe, Gregory B.; Franco, Fabiano; Pindilli, Emily J.; Gordon, Stephanie; Metes, Marina; Claggett, Peter R.; Gellis, Allen; Hupp, Cliff R.; Hogan, Dianna M.