The Integrated Ecosystem Studies Team (IES) at the Upper Midwest Water Science Center uses interdisciplinary approaches to investigate characteristics and drivers of water quality and aquatic biology in rivers, lakes, and wetlands.
IES team mission statement
The mission of the Integrated Ecosystem Studies Team within the Upper Midwest Water Science Center is to provide reliable scientific information on physical, chemical, and biological processes within and across aquatic ecosystems; understand how watershed management affects downstream rivers, lakes, and wetlands; and connect USGS science to end users to make better informed management decisions to improve ecosystems and human health.
IES team capabilities
The Integrated Ecosystem Studies Team conducts studies that combine multiple areas of research to
evaluate ecosystem drivers, functions, stressors, and health of rivers, lakes, and wetlands. Changes in the aquatic ecosystem, such as fish kills or harmful algal blooms, are often early indicators of major water quality issues. The Integrated Ecosystem Studies Team integrates baseline assessments with known ecological changes to identify stressors and determine drivers in aquatic ecosystems. Study areas may range from local to global in scope. Key capabilities of the Integrated Ecosystems Studies Team include:
- Ecosystem monitoring: Evaluate water quantity and water quality in rivers, lakes, and wetlands; focusing on community needs from recreation to water quality concerns.
- Land to lake assessments: Monitor and develop models to track and evaluate upstream contributions to receiving water bodies to aid in watershed planning for mitigation and restoration.
- Ecosystem condition assessments: Assess aquatic ecology and environmental stressors for changes in physical, chemical, and biological conditions of rivers and lakes.
- Harmful algal bloom evaluation: Investigate conditions that lead to algal blooms; evaluate how and why some algal blooms become toxic and affect other organisms; analyze the distribution, function, and diversity of algal assemblages; and conduct laboratory analysis of algal toxins and related analytes.
- Aquatic invasive species: Assess the vulnerability of rivers, lakes, and wetlands, and their native aquatic species to aquatic invasive species and use this information to help guide management decisions.
- Climate change studies: Evaluate how climate change has or may influence the physical, chemical, and biological conditions of rivers, lakes, and wetlands.
IES Team members (L to R)
Row 1: Victoria Christensen, Krista Hood, Kathryn Johncock, Leon Katona
Row 2: Richard Kiesling, Michelle Nott, Hayley Olds, Dale Robertson
Row 3: James Romano, Owen Stefaniak, Hailey Trompeter, Margaret Zimmer
Victoria Christensen (she/her) is a research hydrologist in Fargo, North Dakota. She studies harmful algal blooms (HABs) and cyanotoxins, with a focus on the neurotoxins, anatoxin-a and saxitoxin. Her recent research is on cyanotoxin mixtures and the drivers of HABs and their toxins. She is a member of the Environmental Health Program's Algal Toxin Team and serves as the acting Communications Coordinator for the Water Mission Area.
Krista Hood is a hydrologist in the Madison, WI office. She has years of experience working on water-quality monitoring and trends projects. Most recently her work has focused on characterizing groundwater trends across regional aquifers. Additionally, she manages the water-quality database and coordinates QA activities for water-quality data in the center.
Kathryn Johncock (she/her) is a physical scientist in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She has extensive field experience supporting water quality, sediment, and ecological studies across the Great Lakes region in pelagic, littoral, and riverine environments. Kathryn would like to pursue future research efforts focused on anthropogenic stressors to freshwater systems including aquatic food-web dynamics, impacts of aquatic invasive species, nutrient cycling and contaminants.
Leon Katona (he/him) is a biologist located in Lansing, Michigan. His current research uses his knowledge of algal and cyanobacterial ecology, physiology, and natural history to explore the drivers of harmful algal blooms and their associated toxins in freshwater ecosystems throughout the United States. He has previously asked research questions about the physical and chemical drivers of primary productivity in the Great Lakes, the impacts of aquatic invasive species on lake benthos, and explored patterns in aquatic microbial diversity across in-lake gradients.
Richard Kiesling (he/him) is a hydrologist and limnologist located in Mounds View, Minnesota. His current research includes studies of the effects of emerging contaminants on aquatic ecosystems as well as the effects of land use and hydrologic modifications on nutrient transport and food-web dynamics in lakes. His primary interest in this work is linking stressor gradients with biological response models. Richard’s areas of expertise include limnology, aquatic food web ecology, surface water hydrology, and phytoplankton population biology.
Michelle Nott (she/her) is a physical scientist located in Madison, Wisconsin. Her research interests include characterization of long-term trends in water quality, the influence of environmental characteristics on biological health, contaminants of emerging concern, mercury cycling (with an emphasis on sediment and porewater), and benthic biofilms in organically enriched settings. Additionally, she has expertise in the application of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to assist in answering environmental questions, as well as the collection and analysis of passive sampler (semipermeable membrane devices [SPMDs] and polar organic chemical integrative samplers [POCIS]), stream habitat, and streambed sediment data.
Hayley Olds (she/her) is a hydrologist located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her research has focused on freshwater quality assessments using both freshwater organisms and molecular source tracking. Hayley’s current research includes monitoring harmful algal bloom (HAB) composition, toxicity, and spatial extent. She has expertise in collecting and analyzing phytoplankton, benthic macroinvertebrates, fish, and sediment data, and surveying habitat in ecological assessments. Hayley has expertise in field and laboratory methods using low-cost sampling techniques for monitoring HABs, such as Solid Phase Adsorption Toxin Tracking (SPATT) technology.
Dale Robertson (he/him) is a research hydrologist in Madison, Wisconsin. He is primarily interested in understanding how excess nutrients affect aquatic systems. Dale has expertise in modeling eutrophication and mixing in lakes, estimating concentrations and loads of nutrients and sediment in streams over large geographic areas, such as the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Basins, developing nutrient criteria for streams and rivers, and examining the effects of climate change on the physical dynamics, ice cover, and productivity of lakes.
James Romano (he/him) is a physical scientist located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He has experience conducting a wide variety of water quality sampling, including surface water and sediment sampling in the Great Lakes, its tributaries, and other lakes and rivers around the Upper Midwest. James' field efforts have supported projects investigating PFAS concentrations in water and sediment, microplastic concentrations within the water column, microbiology markers, storm water loading in rivers, harmful algal blooms in lakes and rivers, as well as other ecological surveys in waterways and the riparian zones.
Owen Stefaniak (he/him) is a physical scientist in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He focuses broadly on anthropogenic impacts to surface water quality. His current research interests cover investigations of pollutants including PFAS, PAHs, aircraft deicers and other freezing point depressants, pesticides, and other organic waste compounds. He has an extensive background in pelagic monitoring and sampling methodologies, as well as the planning and logistics of offshore scientific operations.
Hailey Trompeter (she/her) is a hydrologist located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She has experience conducting laboratory analyses for inorganic nutrients and algal toxins and has a background in water quality sampling on streams and lakes. She would like to pursue future research efforts on nutrient cycling and microbial communities in wetlands.
Margaret Zimmer (she/her) is a hydrologist in Madison, Wisconsin. She is interested in how perturbations to the water cycle and Earth’s surface, such as climate or land use/cover change, influence water quantity and quality in aquatic systems. Margaret has expertise in empirical data analysis and field monitoring in a range of systems, including wetlands, estuaries, small to large rivers (first order headwaters to the Mississippi), hyporheic and riparian zones, vadose zone, and shallow groundwater.
Toxin Producing Algae Across U.S. Landscapes—Are They Gaining a Foothold?
MMSD Watercourse Corridor Study: Continuous Real-Time Streamflow
Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) Watercourse Corridor Study
MMSD Watercourse Corridor Study: Ecological Assessments and Trends
Review of Cyanobacterial Neurotoxins—Information for Prioritizing Future Science Directions
Mixtures of Algal Toxins Present Prior to and After Formation of Visible Algal Blooms—Science to Inform the Timing of Algal Toxin Exposure
Shingobee Headwaters Aquatic Ecosystems Project (SHAEP)
Water Quality in Voyageurs National Park
Lake monitoring and research
Environmental Effects of Agricultural Practices
Evaluating chloride trends due to road-salt use and its impacts on water quality and aquatic organisms
SPARROW modeling: Great Lakes, Mississippi River, Ohio River, and Red River Basins
The Integrated Ecosystem Studies Team (IES) at the Upper Midwest Water Science Center uses interdisciplinary approaches to investigate characteristics and drivers of water quality and aquatic biology in rivers, lakes, and wetlands.
IES team mission statement
The mission of the Integrated Ecosystem Studies Team within the Upper Midwest Water Science Center is to provide reliable scientific information on physical, chemical, and biological processes within and across aquatic ecosystems; understand how watershed management affects downstream rivers, lakes, and wetlands; and connect USGS science to end users to make better informed management decisions to improve ecosystems and human health.
IES team capabilities
The Integrated Ecosystem Studies Team conducts studies that combine multiple areas of research to
evaluate ecosystem drivers, functions, stressors, and health of rivers, lakes, and wetlands. Changes in the aquatic ecosystem, such as fish kills or harmful algal blooms, are often early indicators of major water quality issues. The Integrated Ecosystem Studies Team integrates baseline assessments with known ecological changes to identify stressors and determine drivers in aquatic ecosystems. Study areas may range from local to global in scope. Key capabilities of the Integrated Ecosystems Studies Team include:
- Ecosystem monitoring: Evaluate water quantity and water quality in rivers, lakes, and wetlands; focusing on community needs from recreation to water quality concerns.
- Land to lake assessments: Monitor and develop models to track and evaluate upstream contributions to receiving water bodies to aid in watershed planning for mitigation and restoration.
- Ecosystem condition assessments: Assess aquatic ecology and environmental stressors for changes in physical, chemical, and biological conditions of rivers and lakes.
- Harmful algal bloom evaluation: Investigate conditions that lead to algal blooms; evaluate how and why some algal blooms become toxic and affect other organisms; analyze the distribution, function, and diversity of algal assemblages; and conduct laboratory analysis of algal toxins and related analytes.
- Aquatic invasive species: Assess the vulnerability of rivers, lakes, and wetlands, and their native aquatic species to aquatic invasive species and use this information to help guide management decisions.
- Climate change studies: Evaluate how climate change has or may influence the physical, chemical, and biological conditions of rivers, lakes, and wetlands.
IES Team members (L to R)
Row 1: Victoria Christensen, Krista Hood, Kathryn Johncock, Leon Katona
Row 2: Richard Kiesling, Michelle Nott, Hayley Olds, Dale Robertson
Row 3: James Romano, Owen Stefaniak, Hailey Trompeter, Margaret Zimmer
Victoria Christensen (she/her) is a research hydrologist in Fargo, North Dakota. She studies harmful algal blooms (HABs) and cyanotoxins, with a focus on the neurotoxins, anatoxin-a and saxitoxin. Her recent research is on cyanotoxin mixtures and the drivers of HABs and their toxins. She is a member of the Environmental Health Program's Algal Toxin Team and serves as the acting Communications Coordinator for the Water Mission Area.
Krista Hood is a hydrologist in the Madison, WI office. She has years of experience working on water-quality monitoring and trends projects. Most recently her work has focused on characterizing groundwater trends across regional aquifers. Additionally, she manages the water-quality database and coordinates QA activities for water-quality data in the center.
Kathryn Johncock (she/her) is a physical scientist in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She has extensive field experience supporting water quality, sediment, and ecological studies across the Great Lakes region in pelagic, littoral, and riverine environments. Kathryn would like to pursue future research efforts focused on anthropogenic stressors to freshwater systems including aquatic food-web dynamics, impacts of aquatic invasive species, nutrient cycling and contaminants.
Leon Katona (he/him) is a biologist located in Lansing, Michigan. His current research uses his knowledge of algal and cyanobacterial ecology, physiology, and natural history to explore the drivers of harmful algal blooms and their associated toxins in freshwater ecosystems throughout the United States. He has previously asked research questions about the physical and chemical drivers of primary productivity in the Great Lakes, the impacts of aquatic invasive species on lake benthos, and explored patterns in aquatic microbial diversity across in-lake gradients.
Richard Kiesling (he/him) is a hydrologist and limnologist located in Mounds View, Minnesota. His current research includes studies of the effects of emerging contaminants on aquatic ecosystems as well as the effects of land use and hydrologic modifications on nutrient transport and food-web dynamics in lakes. His primary interest in this work is linking stressor gradients with biological response models. Richard’s areas of expertise include limnology, aquatic food web ecology, surface water hydrology, and phytoplankton population biology.
Michelle Nott (she/her) is a physical scientist located in Madison, Wisconsin. Her research interests include characterization of long-term trends in water quality, the influence of environmental characteristics on biological health, contaminants of emerging concern, mercury cycling (with an emphasis on sediment and porewater), and benthic biofilms in organically enriched settings. Additionally, she has expertise in the application of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to assist in answering environmental questions, as well as the collection and analysis of passive sampler (semipermeable membrane devices [SPMDs] and polar organic chemical integrative samplers [POCIS]), stream habitat, and streambed sediment data.
Hayley Olds (she/her) is a hydrologist located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her research has focused on freshwater quality assessments using both freshwater organisms and molecular source tracking. Hayley’s current research includes monitoring harmful algal bloom (HAB) composition, toxicity, and spatial extent. She has expertise in collecting and analyzing phytoplankton, benthic macroinvertebrates, fish, and sediment data, and surveying habitat in ecological assessments. Hayley has expertise in field and laboratory methods using low-cost sampling techniques for monitoring HABs, such as Solid Phase Adsorption Toxin Tracking (SPATT) technology.
Dale Robertson (he/him) is a research hydrologist in Madison, Wisconsin. He is primarily interested in understanding how excess nutrients affect aquatic systems. Dale has expertise in modeling eutrophication and mixing in lakes, estimating concentrations and loads of nutrients and sediment in streams over large geographic areas, such as the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Basins, developing nutrient criteria for streams and rivers, and examining the effects of climate change on the physical dynamics, ice cover, and productivity of lakes.
James Romano (he/him) is a physical scientist located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He has experience conducting a wide variety of water quality sampling, including surface water and sediment sampling in the Great Lakes, its tributaries, and other lakes and rivers around the Upper Midwest. James' field efforts have supported projects investigating PFAS concentrations in water and sediment, microplastic concentrations within the water column, microbiology markers, storm water loading in rivers, harmful algal blooms in lakes and rivers, as well as other ecological surveys in waterways and the riparian zones.
Owen Stefaniak (he/him) is a physical scientist in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He focuses broadly on anthropogenic impacts to surface water quality. His current research interests cover investigations of pollutants including PFAS, PAHs, aircraft deicers and other freezing point depressants, pesticides, and other organic waste compounds. He has an extensive background in pelagic monitoring and sampling methodologies, as well as the planning and logistics of offshore scientific operations.
Hailey Trompeter (she/her) is a hydrologist located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She has experience conducting laboratory analyses for inorganic nutrients and algal toxins and has a background in water quality sampling on streams and lakes. She would like to pursue future research efforts on nutrient cycling and microbial communities in wetlands.
Margaret Zimmer (she/her) is a hydrologist in Madison, Wisconsin. She is interested in how perturbations to the water cycle and Earth’s surface, such as climate or land use/cover change, influence water quantity and quality in aquatic systems. Margaret has expertise in empirical data analysis and field monitoring in a range of systems, including wetlands, estuaries, small to large rivers (first order headwaters to the Mississippi), hyporheic and riparian zones, vadose zone, and shallow groundwater.