William J. "Bill" Andrews has worked for the USGS since 1988. His positions in the USGS have included: Hydrologist, Webmaster, Water-Quality Specialist, Groundwater Specialist, Report Specialist, Section Chief, Acting Deputy Center Director, Acting Center Director, Center Director, and Regional Science Coordinator.
Professional Experience
Bill Andrews has served in a wide range of technical and supervisory roles at USGS Water Science Centers in Florida, Minnesota, and Oklahoma, including Hydrologist, Groundwater Specialist, Webmaster, Studies Section Chief, Report Specialist, Acting Center Director, and Center Director. He has assisted in Water Mission Area headquarters projects related to online review of technical reports, water-quality programs, and completion of annual reports for the Office of Delaware River Master. He served as Acting Deputy Director for the South-Central Climate Science Center.
Bill currently serves as a Science Coordinator for the Rocky Mountain Region (Dept. of the Interior Unified Region 7) of the USGS, which involves reviewing and writing technical documents and publications, advising a regional integrated drought science project, reviewing center science programs, and managing the Region's webpages.
Bill has taught graduate-level classes and laboratory sections in biology and ecology at the College of Engineering, School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science and guest lectured about emerging contaminants at graduate-level classes at the Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture, Division of Landscape Architecture at the University of Oklahoma. He has guest lectured about plant uptake of metals, phytoremediation plant selection, and economic returns of phytoremediation designs at the Graduate School of Design, Department of Landscape Architecture at Harvard University.
Bill has lead-authored or coauthored 43 USGS-series publications, 6 journal papers, 13 conference proceedings papers, 14 conference abstracts, 2 data releases, and 2 university publications and has given numerous talks about hydrology, emerging contaminants, relations between land uses and water quality, climate change, and induced seismicity at science conferences, for university classes, and to the general public.
Education and Certifications
Bachelor of Science Degree, Geology, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia, 1984, Thesis-Stratigraphy of the Yorktown Formation on the South Bank of the James River, Virginia
Master of Science Degree, Geology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois, 1988, Thesis-Nitrate occurrence in ground and surface waters, DeKalb County, Illinois
Doctoral Degree, Environmental Science, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, 2011, Dissertation-Plant uptake, time trends, and natural attenuation of metals in an abandoned mining district
Honors and Awards
Recipient of numerous performance awards in the USGS Florida and USGS Minnesota Districts, Oklahoma Water Science Center, Rocky Mountain Region, and Headquarters, U.S. Geological Survey, 1988-2022
Recipient Central Regional Diversity Group Award, U.S. Geological Survey, 10/2010
Recipient of the Fred and Katie Cobb and Robert H. Cobb Scholarship, University of Oklahoma, School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science, 9/2007
Recipient of University of Oklahoma Graduate Student Senate, Conference and Creative Exhibition Grant, 4/2007
Recipient of Air and Waste Management Association, Oklahoma Chapter Scholarship, 4/2007
Recipient of University of Oklahoma Graduate Student Senate, Research and Creative Activity Grant, 11/2006
Recipient of University of Oklahoma Research Council Grant, 10/2006
Recipient of 2005 American Society of Mining and Reclamation Memorial Scholarship for PhD Student
Member Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, 2005-2015
Member Gamma Beta Phi Honor and Service Society, 2005-2011
Awarded Fellowship in U.S. Department of Education’s Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) Program, January 2004-December 2007
USGS “S.T.A.R.” award from headquarters, 10/5/2003
Recipient of the Mike Synar Environmental Excellence Award—L.E.A.D. Agency and Cherokee Volunteer Society (2003)
Letter of Appreciation from The Association of State and Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials (2007)
Letter of Appreciation from National Water Quality Monitoring Council (2001)
Letter of Appreciation from Texas County (Okla.) Conservation District (2001)
Letter of Appreciation from Cimarron County (Okla.) Conservation District (2001)
Letter of Appreciation from Hall Environmental Services (2000)
Letter of Appreciation from USGS Chief Hydrologist (1994)
Letter of appreciation from Congresswoman Nancy L. Johnson (1985)
Abstracts and Presentations
Andrews, W.J., 1995, Volatile organic compounds in surface and ground water in the Upper Mississippi River Basin, Minnesota and Wisconsin, 1978-94 (Abstract), in Proceedings of the 40th Annual Midwest Groundwater Conference, Columbia, Missouri, October 1995, p. 24.
Andrews, W.J., Trotta, L.C., and Schoenberg, M.E., 1995, Water-level declines from 1980-90 in major aquifers in the Twin Cities Area, in Proceedings of the 31st Annual Conference of the American Water Resources Association, Houston, Texas, November, 1995, p. 63-72.
Stark, J.R., Andrews, W.J., Fallon, J.D., and Kroening, S.E., 1996, Volatile organic compounds in surface water and ground water in parts of the Upper Mississippi River Basin, 1978-94 in Hydrology and hydrogeology of urbanizing areas, a collection of papers presented at the conference held in Boston, Massachusetts, April 21-24, 1996: American Institute of Hydrology, p. WQE26-WQE35.
Andrews, W.J., and Fong, A.L., 1996, Nutrients, pesticides, and volatile organic compounds in ground water in part of the Upper Mississippi River Basin, 1978-94 (Abstract), in Minnesota Water ‘96--Changing patterns of power and responsibility: implications for water policy, Fifth Biennial Conference on Water Resources in Minnesota, University of Minnesota, Water Resources Research Center, May 20-2
Andrews, W.J., Stark, J.R., and Fong, A.L., 1996, Nutrients and pesticides in ground water in part of the Upper Mississippi River Basin, Minnesota and Wisconsin, 1978-94 (Abstract), in Program and abstracts of the 41st Annual Midwest Groundwater Conference, Lexington, Kentucky, September 29-October 1, 1996, pp. 99-100.
Fong, A.L., Andrews, W.J., and Stark, J.R., 1997, Ground-water quality in the Prairie du Chien-Jordan/Trempealeau aquifer in Minnesota and Wisconsin, 1996 (Abstract), in Program and abstracts of the 42nd Annual Midwest Groundwater Conference, Coralville, Iowa, October 22-24, 1997, p. 18.
Andrews, W.J., Stark, J.R., and Fong, A.L., 1997, Ground-water quality in the northwestern Twin Cities Metropolitan Area, Minnesota (Abstract), in Program and abstracts of the 42nd Annual Midwest Groundwater Conference, Coralville, Iowa, October 22-24, 1997, p. 15.
Stark, J.R., Fong, A.L., and Andrews, W.J., 1998, Ground-water quality in unconfined glacial aquifers in part of the Upper Mississippi River Basin--the influence of land use (Abstract): Program and abstracts of the 43rd Annual Midwest Groundwater Conference, Lawrence, Kansas, October 12-14, 1998, p. 15.
Andrews, W.J., 1999, Time-series sampling for nutrients and bacteria in ground water at four North Florida dairy farms and three springs along the Suwannee River, 1990-93, in Effects of animal feeding operations on water resources and the environment--proceedings of the technical meeting, Fort Collins Colorado, August 30 - September 1, 1999: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 00-204, p. 61.
Andrews, W.J., Fong, A.L., and Stark, J.R., 1999, Ground-water quality along a flowpath in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area, Minnesota, 1997-98 (Abstract), in Program and abstracts of the 44th Annual Midwest Ground Water Conference, St. Paul, Minnesota, October 13-15, 1999, pp. 34-35.
Stark, J.R., Andrews, W.J., Fong, A.L., and Puckett, L.J., 1999, Ground-water quality along a flowpath in a surficial glacial aquifer in the Upper Mississippi River Basin--the influence of land use (Abstract), in Apps, J.A., and Tsang, C. (eds.), Fourth USA/CIS Joint Conference, Hydrologic Issues of the 21st Century: Ecology, Environment, and Human Health, November 7-10, 1999, San Francisco, CA
Andrews, W.J., 1999, Time-series sampling for nutrients and bacteria in ground water at four North Florida dairy farms and three springs along the Suwannee River, 1990-93 (Poster abstract), in Workshop agenda and abstracts, Animal feeding operations: effects on hydrologic resources and the environment, August 30-September 1, 1999, Ft. Collins, Colorado. U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2000
Andrews, W.J., 2003, Occurrence of metals in ground water, surface water, and streambed sediment in the Tar Creek Superfund Site and adjoining Tribal Jurisdictional Statistical Areas, 1997-2003 (Abstract), in Workshop on Mining Impacted Native American Lands, September 9-11, 2003, Reno, NV: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, pp. 20-21.
Andrews, W.J., 2006, Investigation of time trends in bioavailable metals in the Tri-State mining district through analysis of metals concentrations in tree rings, in program of 135th SME annual meeting and exhibit and 7th ICARD, March 26-29, 2006, Saint Louis, MO, p. 62.
Andrews, W.J., Nairn, R.W., and Minarik, W.G., 2007, Preliminary assessment of time trends in bioavailable metals in the Tri-State lead/zinc mining district through analysis of tree cores, in 2007 National Meeting of the American Society of Mining and Reclamation, Gillette, WY, 30 Years of SMCRA and Beyond June 2-7, 2007. R.I. Barnhisel (Ed.) Published by ASMR, 3134 Montavesta Rd., Lexington, KY.
Nairn, R.W., Beisel, T., Thomas, R.C., LaBar, J.A., Strevett, K.A., Fuller, D., Strosnider, W.H., Andrews, W.J., Bays, J., and Knox, R.C., 2009, Challenges in design and construction of a large multi-cell passive treatment system for ferruginous lead-zinc mine waters, In Barnhisel, R.I. (Ed.), Proceedings of Joint Conference of the American Society of Mining and Reclamation 26th Annual
Andrews, W.J., Nairn, R.W., and Moreno, C.J.G, 2014, Potential recovery of aluminum, titanium, lead, and zinc from fine tailings in the abandoned Picher mining district of Oklahoma, in program of the American Society of Mining and Reclamation annual conference, Oklahoma City, OK, June 16-20, 2014.
Andrews, W.J., 2014, USGS Oklahoma Water Science Center Projects in 2014, in program of the Oklahoma Governor’s Water Conference and Research Symposium, October 22-23, 2014, Oklahoma City, OK
Brewer, S.K., Worthington, T.A., Mollenhauer, Robert, and Andrews, William, 2014, Assessing changes in fish traits and water quality in a large Great Plains River, in Program of the 144th Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, p. 117.
Kennen, Jonathan, Brewer, S.K., Worthington, T.A., Gutierrez Canovas, Carlos, Vieux, Baxter, and Andrews, William, 2015, Spatial variation in the fish assemblage of a large Great Plains River, in Program of the 145th Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society, Portland, Oregon, p. 197.
Vieux, Baxter, Andrews, William, Brewer, Shannon, Worthington, Thomas, Kennen, Jonathan, and Looper, Jonathan, 2015, Projecting hydrologic impacts on the Canadian River ecosystem under future climate change scenarios, in Program of the 2015 Oklahoma Governors Water Conference and Symposium, Norman, Oklahoma, available at: https://www.owrb.ok.gov/GWCmobile/agenda-rs.html.
Frus, Rebecca, Hawbaker, Todd J., Anderson, Patrick, Qi, Sharon, Andrews, William, Monroe, Adrian, Bradford, John, and Dahm, Katharine, 2022, Assessing stakeholder science needs to prioritize integrated drought-related science in the Colorado River Basin, in Program of the Geological Society of America Cordilleran/Rocky Mountain Joint Section Meeting, Las Vegas, Nevada, March 15-17, 2022, Session
Frus, R., Anderson, P., Qi, S., Andrews, W., and Dahm, K., 2022, An Innovative Strategy to Assess Colorado River Basin Stakeholder Science Needs Related to Drought: Biennial Conference on Science and Management for the Colorado Plateau & Southwest Region, September 12--15, 2022, Flagstaff, Arizona, available at: https://in.nau.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/94/2022/09/16th-Biennial-Conference-Ab
Dahm, K.G., Alexander, J., Anderson, E., Anderson, P., Andrews, W., Erxleben, J., Frus, R, Hevesi, J, Horton, R., House, S., Jones, D., Monroe, A., Qi, S., Tillery, A., Thomas, K., and Torregrosa, A., 2022, A new framework for convergent research: Actionable and Strategic Integrated Science and Technology (ASIST): 16th Biennial Conference of Science and Management for the Colorado Plateau and Sout
Nagler, P.L., Baretto-Munoz, A., Didan, K., Miller, O., Shafroth, P., Anderson, E.D., Aulenbach, S.M., Andrews, W.J., Dahm, K.G., and Bagstad, K.J., 2022, Building a community for FAIR and integrated modeling using catchments in the Lower Colorado River Basin: 16th Biennial Conference of Science and Management for the Colorado Plateau and Southwest Region, September 12-15, 2022, Flagstaff, Arizona
Dahm, K., Anderson, E., Anderson, P., Andrews, W., Bradford, J., Dick, M., Erxleben, J., Frus, R., House, S., Jones, D., Monroe, A., Qi, S., Tillery, A., Thomas, K., and Torregrosa, A., 2022, Colorado River Basin Integrated Science and Technology: USGS Approach to Convergent Research: American Geophysical Union Chapman Conference, September 12-16, 2022, Golden, Colorado.
Dahm, K., Anderson, E, Anderson, P, Andrews, W., Erxleben, J., Frus, R., House, S., Jones, D., Monroe, A., Qi, S., Tillery, A.C., Thomas, K, and Torregrosa, A., 2022, Actionable and Strategic Integrated Science and Technology (ASIST): USGS Approach to Convergent Research: The Geological Society of America, GSA Connects 2022 Meeting, October 9-12, Denver, Colorado, available at: https://doi.org/10.
Science and Products
Floridan aquifer system
Drought in the Colorado River Basin
The Colorado River Basin Pilot Project
Office of the Delaware River Master
National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program
Building Partnerships to Assess Tribal Adaptation to Climate Change and Science Needs in the Southwest
Understanding the Nexus between Climate, Streamflow, Water Quality, and Ecology in the Arkansas-Red River Basin
Science and Products
- Publications
- Science
Floridan aquifer system
The Floridan aquifer system (FAS) is one of the most productive aquifers in the world. It underlies an area of approximately 100,000 square miles beneath all of Florida and parts of southeastern Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina.Drought in the Colorado River Basin
The Colorado River Basin is currently experiencing its worst drought in recorded history. Drought impacts include worsening habitat conditions for several threatened and endangered species, wildland fire risks, reduced snowpack, changes in water availability and agricultural production; reduced recreation opportunities at National Parks, Wildlife Refuges, and Conservation areas; and impacts to...The Colorado River Basin Pilot Project
USGS expertise together with our vast regional data sets and modeling capabilities, provide an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the value and impact of a strategic and integrated science approach to delivering actionable intelligence to support decision making related to drought risk in the Colorado River Basin. The Pilot in the Colorado River Basin is underway to demonstrate more complex...Office of the Delaware River Master
In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a Decree in State of New Jersey v. State of New York and City of New York in which the Court established the position of the Delaware River Master.National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program
During the past 25 years, industry and government made large financial investments in pollution control that have resulted in better water quality across the Nation; however, many water-quality problems remain. To address the need for consistent and scientifically sound information for managing the Nation's water resources the U.S. Geological Survey began a full-scale National Water-Quality...Building Partnerships to Assess Tribal Adaptation to Climate Change and Science Needs in the Southwest
Native Nations face unique challenges related to climate change. Native Americans have a deep connection to the natural environment within which their livelihoods, cultural identity, and spiritual practices are rooted. Changes to water flow and hydrology, landscapes, and ecosystems, in combination with socio-economic and other factors, amplify tribal vulnerabilities to climate change. In the SouthUnderstanding the Nexus between Climate, Streamflow, Water Quality, and Ecology in the Arkansas-Red River Basin
Currently, maintaining appropriate flows to support biological integrity is difficult for larger riverine ecosystems. Climate change, through increased temperature, reduced rainfall, and increased rainfall intensity, is expected to reduce water availability and exacerbate the maintenance of ecological flows in the Arkansas-Red River basin. Understanding the nexus among climate change effects on st - Data
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