This is a past event.

Environmental Engineering Graduate Seminar

Ted Stets, Research Ecologist, US Geological Survey

Abstract

Sustaining the quality of the Nation’s water resources and the health of our diverse ecosystems depends on the availability of sound water-resources data and information to develop effective, science-based policies.  This talk will focus on research into water quality trends conducted by the USGS National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program which was initiated to address the quality of the Nation’s waters and changes in response to human activities and natural factors.  Topics addressed will include: land use drivers of trends in the US; increasing salinity in US rivers; trends in coastal nutrient fluxes; and, the role of legacy phosphorus in driving trends in US rivers.

The USGS NAWQA program officially ended in 2021 and will be replaced by the newly-formed Integrated Water Availability Assessments (IWAAS) Program.  The concepts behind IWAAS and its plans to focus a greater portion of USGS resources on water assessments will be introduced and discussed.

Bio

Ted Stets is a Research Ecologist with the USGS located in Minneapolis, MN. Ted received a PhD from the University of Minnesota in 2007 and has been with the USGS for 14 years.  He has worked on catchment hydrology and biogeochemistry, continental-scale aquatic carbon biogeochemistry, water quality trends, and the controls on metabolism in lakes and rivers.  Ted is currently managing the National Integrated Water Availability Assessments Project, which is planning a comprehensive assessment of water resources in the US to be completed in the next several years.

Coffee and light snacks will be provided.