Thomas Williams is a hydrologist at the U.S. Geological Survey - Kansas Water Science Center in Lawrence, Kansas. His work focuses on collecting, analyzing, and interpreting water-quality data in streams throughout eastern Kansas, with an emphasis on the Kansas River.
Research objectives include: (1) characterizing current and historic water-quality conditions in the Kansas River related to sediment, nutrients, major ions, bromide, fecal indicator bacteria, cyanobacteria, and associated toxins and taste-and-odor compounds; and (2) developing and evaluating surrogate models that use water-quality samples and continuously measured physiochemical properties to estimate concentrations or probability of occurrence of water-quality constituents that are not easily measured in real time.
Education and Certifications
Bachelor’s Degree in Geography and Geosciences from the University of Missouri
Master’s Degree in Physical Geography from the University of Iowa
Science and Products
Characterization of Potentially Toxic CyanoHAB Initiation in Slow-Moving Streams, Wetlands, and Oxbows
Water-Quality Monitoring in the Lower Kansas River Basin
Cyanobacterial (Blue-Green Algal) Blooms: Tastes, Odors, and Toxins
Science and Products
- Publications
- Science
Characterization of Potentially Toxic CyanoHAB Initiation in Slow-Moving Streams, Wetlands, and Oxbows
Targeted sampling in selected slow-moving streams, wetlands, and oxbows to receiving reservoirs and rivers will allow us to better characterize the hydrologic, water-quality, and biological conditions present during the formation and transport of potentially toxic cyanobacteria blooms.Water-Quality Monitoring in the Lower Kansas River Basin
The Kansas River is a primary source of drinking water for about 800,000 people in northeastern Kansas. Water-quality concerns related to excessive nutrient, bacteria, and sediment concentrations have been identified by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Additionally, the occurrence and transport of cyanobacteria (also called blue-green algae), associated toxins, and taste-and-odor...Cyanobacterial (Blue-Green Algal) Blooms: Tastes, Odors, and Toxins
Freshwater and marine harmful algal blooms (HABs) can occur anytime water use is impaired due to excessive accumulations of algae. In freshwater, the majority of HABs are caused by cyanobacteria (also called blue-green algae). Cyanobacteria cause a multitude of water-quality concerns, including the potential to produce taste-and-odor causing compounds and toxins that are potent enough to poison... - Data