This study was conducted to determine if a time-integrated Phillips sampler was able to estimate sediment yield when compared to a reference produced by an automated sampler. Time-integrated samplers are easier to use, more cost effective, and can withstand storm events better than automated samplers, but are not designed to...
This study assessed suitability of annelid habitats under current baseflow conditions and evaluated the mobility of suitable annelid substrates under a 2-year peak flushing flow. Outputs from a 2020 Bureau of Reclamation SRH-2D model were combined with field measurements of annelid presence/absence and habitat variables including depth, velocity and d50,...
This study is a preassessment of the ecological status of habitats and species potentially affected by wave energy device installation, focusing on five flatfish species. Butter sole (Isopsetta isolepis), English sole (Parophrys vetulus), Sand sole (Psettichthys melanostictus), Pacific sanddab (Citharichthys sordidus), and Speckled sanddab (Citharichthys stigmaeus) were collected bimonthly from...
Liquid manure lagoons are known to be sources of odor and environmentally damaging gas emissions. Land application of the manure slurry after storage can lead to detrimental nutrient runoff and leaching. Floating lagoon covers (biocovers) are one option for reducing emissions, but to date they have only been used to...
After over two decades of advocacy and planning, the four hydroelectric facilities on the Klamath River will be decommissioned and removed starting in 2023. Significant positive changes are expected to result, from reduced severity of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) to nearly a two-fold increase in accessible habitat for native salmonid...
Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) flux is an important mechanism to convey soil carbon (C) from aboveground organic debris (litter) to deeper soil horizons and can influence the formation of stable soil organic carbon (SOC) compounds. Aboveground litter quantity and quality was manipulated for 20-years in an old-growth Douglas fir forest...
In the face of increasing demand for and reduced supplies of water, methods to augment water supply and storage capacity are becoming increasingly important. In some areas, this has taken the form of aquifer storage and recovery (ASR), which involves injecting water into a well during a time of water...
Accurate estimation of the amount of water used by trees is important for a variety of agricultural applications. There are several current methodologies for measuring sap flow and water use in trees, however the heat ratio method has been identified as the ideal due to its ability to measure low...
Accurate estimation of water stress in vineyards could prove vital for optimizing irrigation and grape quality in a changing climate. The ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on the Space Station (ECOSTRESS) offers potential to remotely sense vineyard water stress but lacks validation against in-field measurements in vineyards. In this study,...
Research in geoscience often requires transmission of significant amounts of data from remote locations. The emergence of microcontrollers and open-source sensors are allowing connectivity to affordable, distributed in-situ monitoring. This report describes the OPEnS Hub, a modular data hub orders of magnitude cheaper than commercial dataloggers when scaled to multiple...
How water moves through soils is of importance to studies of stream hydrology and biogeochemistry. Although translatory flow, which states how soil water is displaced by additional precipitation into streams, is a widely accepted model, Brooks et al. (2010) found evidence that challenged this model. They suggested that there are...
This study investigates the occurrence of beaver (Castor canadensis) in lentic habitat (lakes and ponds) near Mount St. Helens in Washington, 40 years after the 1980 eruption. At the coarse spatial scale, I surveyed lakes for sign of beaver establishment (lodge or den) across multiple volcanic disturbance zones. At a...
This study was conducted to determine if bacterial DNA present streams could be used to predict upstream watershed characteristics. Previous studies have found that bacterial composition in soil is influenced by land use. It was hypothesized that if the bacteria present in a stream is known that it can be...
The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) provides open access data products including sub-daily precipitation amounts and biweekly stable water isotope concentrations at sites across the United States. Stable water isotope (ẟ2H, ẟ18O) concentrations are often used in hydrometeorological studies and models, however the relatively infrequent biweekly sampling intervals of NEON...
Plant nurseries comprise the largest agricultural sector in Oregon at nearly $1 billion per year. Even at this scale, individual nurseries and greenhouses do not have clear water quality standards set by the EPA. Watershed-level total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) have been set for excess nutrients and herbicides due to...
Drought represents an import part of natural hydrologic cycles that govern the rate and transportation of water on global and regional scales. (Trenberth, et al. 2015) Agriculturally, drought represents a threat to crop production and can endanger political and economic stability through the loss of resources and the threat of...
Floods remain the world’s most destructive natural hazard, despite centuries of efforts to minimize losses. Understanding public preferences for flood mitigation measures, and the impacts of these measures, is key to minimizing flood-induced losses. This study quantified tradeoffs between flood mitigation measures and determined factors that influence public preferences for...
From my personal experiences, I’ve noticed that Latinx students and families are most receptive to college-related information communicated as anecdotes. Latinx students are among the most poorly represented demographic at universities nationwide, which I believe can be mitigated through calculated efforts to increase collegiate literacy and understanding. This project is...