Stahl, Ralph G., Kapustka, Lawrence A., Munns, Wayne R., and Bruins, Randall J. F. 2007. Organizing and Integrating the Valuation Process. pp.129–163. DOI: 10.1201/9781420062632.ch6
Travis S Schmidt, Ph.D.
Biography
Travis Schmidt, Ph.D., is a Research Ecologist for the Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center. He has degrees from The Pennsylvania State University, Virginia Tech, and Colorado State University. He joined the USGS as a Mendenhall Fellow in 2007 and has devoted his career to understanding how stressors shape aquatic and riparian ecosystems. His work focuses on using a combination of field observations, models, and laboratory experimentation to discover how ecosystems work.
Education
- Ph.D. Ecotoxicology, Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, Colorado State University, 2007
- M.S. Aquatic Toxicology, Biology Department, Virginia Tech, 2001
- B.S. Ecology, Biology Department, The Pennsylvania State University, 1998
Professional Experience
- 2020 to present, Research Ecologist, Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center, Helena, MT
- 2009-2020, Research Ecologist, Colorado Water Science Center, Fort Collins, CO
- 2007-2009, Mendenhall Fellow, Central Mineral and Environmental Science Center, Denver, CO
- 2003-2007, USDA Fellow, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 2001-2003, Ecotoxicologist, ELM Consulting, Chicago, IL
- 1999-2001, Research Assistant, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA
- 1998-1999, Research Assistant, Aquatic Ecology Lab, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
- 1998-1999, Department of Biology, Notre Dame University, South Bend, IN
Affiliations
- 2015 to present, Faculty Affiliate, Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
- 2015 to present, Faculty Affiliate, Graduate Degree Program in Ecology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
- 2016 to present, Faculty Affiliate, Zoology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
Science and Products
Date published: May 26, 2021
Status: Completed Assessment of Mercury and Selenium Accumulation in Upper Colorado River Basin Fish
More than 50 years of existing mercury and selenium concentrations in native and nonnative fish species residing in streams within the Upper Colorado River Basin were compiled and analyzed to provide an understanding of concentrations among different species, sampling years, and locations to determine potential health risks. Concentrations of mercury and selenium were above health...
Contacts: Natalie K Day, Travis S Schmidt, Ph.D.
Date published: May 1, 2020
Status: Active Lake Koocanusa Water Quality
Lake Koocanusa is a transboundary reservoir located in southeastern British Columbia and northwestern Montana. The reservoir was officially impounded in 1972 after construction of Libby Dam, which began in 1966. The dam was constructed as part of a treaty between the United States and Canada to cooperatively develop the water resources of the Columbia River drainage basin. The reservoir has a...
Attribution: Water Resources, Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center
Date published: October 1, 2019
Status: Active Analyses of contaminant effects in freshwater systems: synthesizing abiotic and biotic stream datasets for long-term ecological research
Fresh water is arguably the most valuable resource on the planet, but human activities threaten freshwater ecosystems. For example, use of synthetic chemicals, such as pesticides, road salts, and nutrients, has led to the ubiquitous contamination of aquatic systems, jeopardizing the integrity of ecological communities. Given the importance biodiversity plays in maintaining ecosystem health and...
Contacts: William A Battaglin, Travis S Schmidt, Ph.D.
Attribution: John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis
Date published: August 29, 2016
Ecological Responses to Fish Reclamation Treatments
Piscicides have been used in Rocky Mountain stream and lakes to restore native fish populations. In the last two decades concerns over piscicide effects to non-target organisms, primarily aquatic invertebrates, has increased. Although piscicides have been used for more than 70 years the impact to invertebrate assemblages has not been well studied and is largely unknown. Given the importance a...
Date published: August 12, 2016
Potential Toxicity of Multiple Metals Associated with PGE Deposits
Water quality and aquatic life standards that are set by Federal and state regulatory agencies are used to evaluate the quality of our nation’s water and the health of aquatic ecosystems. These standards currently are based on hardness of the water and are determined for single metals, not for mixtures of metals that are typically found in natural systems. Metal mixtures can potentially be...
Date published: July 5, 2016
Status: Active Climate Change and Trout
Cold-water fishes like trout, salmon, and charr are especially vulnerable to shifting conditions related to climate change; for example, warmer temperatures and more variable hydroclimate. Native cutthroat trout of the southern Rocky Mountains now only occupy a tiny fraction of their historic habitats because of stressors such as non-native fishes, habitat fragmentation, and detrimental land...
Date published: July 5, 2016
Status: Active Effects of Contaminants on Linked Aquatic and Terrestrial Food Webs
Most aquatic insects live in fresh water as larvae and move to land as flying adults to complete their life cycle. Although often ignored, the emergence of adults can transfer the effects of contamination from aquatic to terrestrial ecosystems as the adults are eaten by predators such as spiders, birds, and bats.
Date published: October 30, 2020
Invertebrate community data from native trout lakes and streams in the Southern Rocky Mountains
Native trout in the West suffer a high degree of vulnerability, as highlighted by cutthroat trout, a group of 14 subspecies, most of which have been petitioned for listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). In the Southern Rocky Mountains, greenback cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii stomias; GBCT) are listed as threatened under the ESA, and few populations remain, i
Attribution: Colorado Water Science Center
Year Published: 2021
Variation in metal concentrations across a large contamination gradient is reflected in stream but not linked riparian food webs
Aquatic insects link food web dynamics across freshwater-terrestrial boundaries and subsidize terrestrial consumer populations. Contaminants that accumulate in larval aquatic insects and are retained across metamorphosis can increase dietary exposure for riparian insectivores. To better understand potential exposure of terrestrial insectivores to...
Kraus, Johanna M.; Wanty, Richard; Schmidt, Travis S.; Walters, David; Wolf, Ruth E.
Year Published: 2020
Time-dependent accumulation of Cd, Co, Cu, Ni, and Zn in mayfly and caddisfly larvae in experimental streams: Metal sensitivity, uptake pathways, and mixture toxicity
Conceptual and quantitative models were developed to assess time-dependent processes in four sequential experimental stream studies that determined abundances of natural communities of mayfly and caddisfly larvae dosed with single metals (Cd, Co, Cu, Ni, Zn) or multiple metals (Cd+Zn, Co+Cu, Cu+Ni, Cu+Zn, Ni+Zn, Cd+Cu+Zn, Co+Cu+Ni, Cu+Ni+Zn)....
Balistrieri, Laurie S.; Mebane, Christopher A.; Schmidt, Travis S.
Year Published: 2020
Biofilms provide new insight into pesticide occurrence in streams and links to aquatic ecological communities
Streambed sediment is commonly analyzed to assess occurrence of hydrophobic pesticides and risks to aquatic communities. However, stream biofilms also have the potential to accumulate pesticides and may be consumed by aquatic organisms. To better characterize risks to aquatic life, the U.S. Geological Survey Regional Stream Quality Assessment...
Mahler, Barbara; Schmidt, Travis S.; Nowell, Lisa H.; Qi, Sharon L.; Van Metre, Peter C.; Hladik, Michelle; Carlisle, Daren; Munn, Mark D.; May, JasonAttribution: Water Resources
Year Published: 2019
Projected urban growth in the Southeastern USA puts small streams at risk
Future land-use development has the potential to profoundly affect the health of aquatic ecosystems in the coming decades. We developed regression models predicting the loss of sensitive fish (R2=0.39) and macroinvertebrate (R2=0.64) taxa as a function of urban and agricultural land uses and applied them to projected urbanization of the rapidly...
Van Metre, Peter C.; Waite, Ian R.; Qi, Sharon L.; Mahler, Barbara; Terando, Adam; Wieczorek, Michael; Meador, Michael R.; Bradley, Paul M.; Journey, Celeste A.; Schmidt, Travis S.; Carlisle, DarenAttribution: Water Resources
Year Published: 2019
Benthic algal (Periphyton) growth rates in response to nitrogen and phosphorus: Parameter estimation for water quality models
Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are important pollutants that can stimulate nuisance blooms of algae. Water-quality models (e.g., WASP, CE-QUAL-R1, CE-QUAL-ICM, QUAL2k) are valuable and widely used management tools for algal accrual because of excess nutrients in the presence of other limiting factors. These models utilize the Monod and Droop...
Schmidt, Travis S.; Konrad, Christopher; Miller, Janet L.; Whitlock, Stephen D.; Stricker, Craig A.
Year Published: 2019
Linking the agricultural landscape of the Midwest to stream health with structural equation modeling
Multiple physical and chemical stressors can simultaneously affect the biological condition of streams. To better understand the complex interactions of land-use practices, water quality, and ecological integrity of streams, the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Assessment Project is conducting regional-scale assessments of stream...
Schmidt, Travis S.; Van Metre, Peter C.; Carlisle, DarenAttribution: Water Resources
Year Published: 2018
Understanding the captivity effect on invertebrate communities transplanted into an experimental stream laboratory
Little is known about how design and testing methodologies affect the macroinvertebrate communities that are held captive in mesocosms. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted a 32‐d test to determine how seeded invertebrate communities changed once removed from the natural stream and introduced to the laboratory. We evaluated larvae survival...
Schmidt, Travis S.; Rogers, Holly; Miller, Janet L.; Mebane, Christopher A.; Balistrieri, Laurie S.Attribution: Colorado Water Science Center, Fort Collins Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Idaho Water Science Center, Water Resources, Ecosystems, Energy Resources Program, Mineral Resources Program, National Laboratories Program, Science and Decisions Center, Region 7: Upper Colorado Basin
View Citation
Schmidt, T. S., Rogers, H. A., Miller, J. L., Mebane, C. A. and Balistrieri, L. S. (2018), Understanding the captivity effect on invertebrate communities transplanted into an experimental stream laboratory. Environ Toxicol Chem, 37: 2820-2834. doi:10.1002/etc.4237
Year Published: 2018
Disentangling the effects of low pH and metal mixture toxicity on macroinvertebrate diversity
One of the primary goals of biological assessment of streams is to identify which of a suite of chemical stressors is limiting their ecological potential. Elevated metal concentrations in streams are often associated with low pH, yet the effects of these two potentially limiting factors of freshwater biodiversity are rarely considered to interact...
Fornaroli, Riccardo; Ippolito, Alessio; Tolkkinen, Mari J.; Mykrä, Heikki; Muotka, Timo; Balistrieri, Laurie S.; Schmidt, Travis S.Attribution: Colorado Water Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Energy and Minerals, Contaminant Biology, Energy Resources Program, Mineral Resources Program, National Laboratories Program, Science and Decisions Center
View Citation
Riccardo Fornaroli, Alessio Ippolito, Mari J. Tolkkinen, Heikki Mykrä, Timo Muotka, Laurie S. Balistrieri, Travis S. Schmidt,
Disentangling the effects of low pH and metal mixture toxicity on macroinvertebrate diversity,
Environmental Pollution, Volume 235, 2018, Pages 889-898, ISSN 0269-7491.
Year Published: 2018
Quantifying differences in responses of aquatic insects to trace metal exposure in field studies and short-term stream mesocosm experiments
Characterizing macroinvertebrate taxa as either sensitive or tolerant is of critical importance for investigating impacts of anthropogenic stressors in aquatic ecosystems and for inferring causality. However, our understanding of relative sensitivity of aquatic insects to metals in the field and under controlled conditions in the laboratory or...
Iwasaki, Yuichi; Schmidt, Travis S.; Clements, William H.Attribution: Colorado Water Science Center, Water Resources, Contaminant Biology, Region 7: Upper Colorado Basin
View Citation
Iwasaki, Y., Schmidt, T.S., and Clements, W.H., 2018, Quantifying Differences in Responses of Aquatic Insects to Trace Metal Exposure in Field Studies and Short-Term Stream Mesocosm Experiments: Environmental Science & Technology, v.52, no.7, p.4378-4384. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.7b06628
Year Published: 2018
Complex mixtures of dissolved pesticides show potential aquatic toxicity in a synoptic study of Midwestern U.S. streams
Aquatic organisms in streams are exposed to pesticide mixtures that vary in composition over time in response to changes in flow conditions, pesticide inputs to the stream, and pesticide fate and degradation within the stream. To characterize mixtures of dissolved-phase pesticides and degradates in Midwestern streams, a synoptic study was...
Nowell, Lisa H.; Moran, Patrick W.; Schmidt, Travis S.; Norman, Julia E.; Nakagaki, Naomi; Shoda, Megan E.; Mahler, Barbara; Van Metre, Peter C.; Stone, Wesley W.; Sandstrom, Mark W.; Hladik, Michelle L.Attribution: California Water Science Center, Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Water Science Center, Water Resources, National Water Quality Laboratory
View Citation
Nowell, Lisa H., Moran, Patrick W., Schmidt, Travis S., Norman, Julia E., Nakagaki, Naomi, Shoda, Megan E., Mahler, Barbara J., Van Metre, Peter C., Stone, Wesley W., Sandstrom, Mark W., Hladik, Michelle L., 2018. Complex mixtures of dissolved pesticides show potential aquatic toxicity in a synoptic study of Midwestern U.S. streams. Science of the Total Environment, v. 613-614, p. 1469-1488, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.06.156.
[First online 9 August 2017]
Year Published: 2017
Thermal regimes of Rocky Mountain lakes warm with climate change
Anthropogenic climate change is causing a wide range of stresses in aquatic ecosystems, primarily through warming thermal conditions. Lakes, in response to these changes, are experiencing increases in both summer temperatures and ice-free days. We used continuous records of lake surface temperature and air temperature to create statistical models...
Roberts, James J.; Fausch, Kurt D.; Schmidt, Travis S.; Walters, David M.Attribution: Colorado Water Science Center, Water Resources, Climate Research and Development Program, Land Change Science Program, Region 7: Upper Colorado Basin
View Citation
Roberts JJ, Fausch KD, Schmidt TS, Walters DM (2017) Thermal regimes of Rocky Mountain lakes warm with climate change. PLoS ONE 12(7): e0179498. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0179498
Year Published: 2017
Zinc concentrations and isotopic signatures of an aquatic insect (mayfly, Baetis tricaudatus)
Insect metamorphosis often results in substantial chemical changes that can fractionate isotopes and alter contaminant concentrations. We exposed larval mayflies (Baetis tricaudatus) to an aqueous zinc gradient (3-340 µg Zn/l) and measured the change in zinc tissue concentrations at different stages of metamorphosis. We also measured changes in...
Wesner, Jeff S; Walters, David; Schmidt, Travis S.; Kraus, Johanna M.; Stricker, Craig A.; Clements, William H.Attribution: Fort Collins Science Center
View Citation
Wesner, J.S., Walters, D.M., Schmidt, T.S., Kraus, J.M., Stricker, C.A., and Clements, W.H., 2017, Zinc concentrations and isotopic signatures of an aquatic insect (mayfly, Baetis tricaudatus): U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://dx.doi.org/10.5066/F72V2D85.
Pre-USGS Publications
Church, S.E., R.B. Wanty, T.S. Schmidt, D.L. Fey, B.W. Rockwell, and C.A. San Juan. 2008. Environmental Assessment of Central Colorado-Effects of hydrothermal alteration on water and sediment quality. [abs.]. In: Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, November 16-20, 2008, Tampa, Florida, USA. Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. p. 1.
Church, S.E., D.L. Fey, T.L. Klein, T.S. Schmidt, R.B. Wanty, E.H. DeWitt, B.W. Rockwell, and C.A. San Juan. 2008. Environmental effects of hydrothermal alteration and historical mining on water and sediment quality in central Colorado. [pages in] In: The Third Interagency Conference on Research in Watersheds, September 8-11, 2008, Estes Park, Colorado, USA. p. 1.
doi:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2008.09.007
Date published: October 23, 2020
Common insecticide is more harmful to aquatic ecosystems than previously thought
The insecticide fipronil and some of the compounds it degrades to are more toxic to aquatic insects, such as mayflies and stoneflies, than previously estimated, reports a new study from the USGS Regional Stream Quality Assessment.
Attribution: Water Resources, National Water Quality Program
Date published: October 21, 2016
When the Whole is Less than the Sum of Its Parts
Environmental Ratios of Cadmium and Zinc are less Toxic to Aquatic Insects than Expected
Date published: October 12, 2016
Common Insecticide Identified in Midwestern Streams
Bifenthrin combats pests, but may harm aquatic ecosystems