Timothy Bargar, Ph.D.
Biography
EDUCATION
Ph.D., Environmental Toxicology, Texas Tech University, 2000
RESEARCH
Tim Bargar moved joined the USGS in 2008 and has worked to build research collaborations with federal partners to evaluate contaminant impacts on the nation’s trust resources. He has developed working partnerships with biologists at the Everglades, Biscayne Bay, and Virgin Islands National Parks to better understand the potential impacts from existing and potential future contamination. Owing to his previous employment with the USFWS, he has continued his work with the National Key Deer Refuge to evaluate the impacts of mosquito control operations on species that are candidates for listing under the Endangered Species Act.
BACKGROUND
His dissertation investigated a potential non-lethal, non-invasive method for assessing oviparous organism exposure to persistent organic contaminants. Prior to joining the U.S. Geological Survey, Dr. Bargar worked with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. While with NOAA, he participated in the investigation of pesticide impacts in the Everglades National Park while completing his PhD. He moved on to the Office of Pesticide Programs of the USEPA where his responsibility was the conduct of pesticide ecological risk assessments within the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act process. He then joined the South Florida Ecological Services Office of the USFWS in 2003 and participated in activities related to the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP). His responsibilities primarily involved the assessment, and associated ecological risks to federally listed species, of contamination on properties acquired for incorporation within the CERP. Additional responsibilities included evaluation of pesticide risk to federally listed species as a result of pesticide use on national wildlife refuges.
Science and Products
Contaminants Assessment in the Coral Reefs of the Virgin Islands National Park and Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument
USGS collected samples at reef locations within the Virgin Islands National Park and analyzed for the presence of contaminants, organotin compounds, or sunscreen compounds.
Environmental Management of Vector-borne Diseases
Effective management programs for vector-borne pathogens, such as West Nile Virus and the Lyme disease spirochete, are necessary to protect public health. However, some vector control methods, such as landscape manipulations and pesticide applications, can also adversely affect nontarget species and environmentally sensitive natural systems. Efficient targeting and integration of vector...
Land Stewardship Science Team
The Land Stewardship Integrated Science Team focuses on the potential for contaminant exposures in the environment that might originate from land management activities like wildfire and dust suppression, vector control (for example: mosquitos and rodents) and invasive species (Asian carp and nuisance plants). Perceived health risks to humans and other organisms will be...
Effect of Chronic Neonicotinoid Insecticide Exposure upon Monarch Development
The long-term viability of monarch (Danaus plexippus) butterfly populations in North America is in doubt.
Relative Sensitivity of Adult Mosquitoes and Butterflies to Adult Mosquito Control Pesticides
Mosquito control on Department of the Interior (DOI) managed lands is a resource management challenge. The pesticides used to control mosquitoes may also affect nontarget organisms whose conservation is one of the primary responsibilities of resource managers.
Monarch Butterfly Utilization of Milkweed Plants Grown in Close Proximity to Corn Treated by a Neonicotinoid Insecticide (Seed Treatment)
Monarch butterfly populations have declined sufficiently to result in noticeably fewer overwintering at sites in central Mexico as in California.
Baseline Aquatic Contamination and Endocrine Status in Resident Fish Populations of Biscayne National Park and in the Adjacent Coastal Environment
As part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, water managers are planning to use treated wastewater from the South District Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) to supplement the canal waters that will be used to rehydrate wetlands adjacent to the Biscayne National Park (Park).
Methylmercury Impacts to Reproduction in the Eastern Mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki)
USGS researchers investigate the effects of methylmercury contamination on reproduction of the Eastern mosquitofish, a common fish in South Florida.
Mosquito Control Pesticide Impacts to Butterflies: Implications for Imperiled Butterfly Conservation on a National Wildlife Refuge
USGS researchers evaluate the impact of a pesticide on two imperiled butterfly species in the Florida Keys.