Conference Papers

Ecological models can provide estimates of future conditions that are useful for decision-making, including long-term planning and resource prioritization. However, these models often rely on assumptions about ecological relationships and trajectories, forcings (e.g., biophysical conditions), and management approaches that may not be explicitly considered. To make assumptions more transparent, dis

We provide an exact and approximation algorithm based on Dynamic Programming and an approximation algorithm based on Mixed Integer Programming for optimizing for the so-called dendritic connectivity on tree-structured networks in a multi-objective setting. Dendritic connectivity describes the degree of connectedness of a network. We consider different variants of dendritic connectivity to capture

Integrated geophysical and water-quality studies have been used to delineate areas of saline groundwater in shallow unconfined aquifers underlying the East Poplar oil field in northeastern Montana. In 2004, a RESOLVE survey was conducted over the oil field to identify high conductivity areas potentially associated with brine contamination and to map the shale unit comprising the base of aquifer. I

Airborne electromagnetic (AEM) surveys are a major component of a regional study of groundwater quality adjacent to oil and gas fields in the San Joaquin Valley of California, USA. AEM resistivity models are being used to delineate groundwater salinity in an effort to locate groundwater adjacent to oil and gas fields that could have future beneficial use. AEM models are also being used to improve

Technological advances in the field of ecology allow data on ecological systems to be collected at high resolution, both temporally and spatially. Devices such as Dual-frequency Identification Sonar (DIDSON) can be deployed in aquatic environments for extended periods and easily generate several terabytes of underwater surveillance data which may need to be processed multiple times. Due to the lar

Unlike most national parks, main access to Voyageurs National Park is by boat. This remote system of interconnected waterways along the USA-Canada border was an important transportation route for thousands of years of American Indian occupation, leading up to and including the trade route of the voyageurs, or French-Canadian fur traders from around 1680 to 1870. The Ojibwe people collaborated with

Following dam installations in the remote Rainy Lake Basin during the early 1900s, water-level fluctuations were considered extreme (1914–1949) compared to more natural conditions. In 1949, the International Joint Commission (IJC), which sets rules governing dam operation on waters shared by the United States and Canada, established the first rule curves to regulate water levels on these waterbodi

The Mojave River evolved over the past few million years by “fill and spill” from upper basins near its source in the Transverse Ranges to lower basins. Each newly “spilled into” basin in the series? sustained a long-lived lake but gradually filled with Mojave River sediment, leading to spill to a yet lower elevation? basin. The Mojave River currently terminates at Silver Lake, near Baker, CA, but

To address actions identified in the Department of Interior’s “Safeguarding the West” strategy, the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission (PSMFC) and US Geological Survey (USGS) convened 43 invasive species coordinators and scientific experts June 5-6, 2018 in Portland, Oregon to assess the status of dreissenid monitoring efforts in the Columbia River Basin (CRB); identify key strengths and w

Cartographic generalization can impact geometric properties of geospatial data and subsequent analyses. This study evaluates simplification methods with the goal of preserving geometric details, such as sinuosity. We evaluate two recently developed line simplification algorithms that introduce Steiner points: Raposo’s Spatial Means, and Kronenfeld’s new area-preserving segment collapse algorithm,

Climate change is causing species to shift their phenology, or the timing of recurring life events such as migration and reproduction, in variable and complex ways. This can potentially result in mismatches or asynchronies in food and habitat resources that negatively impact individual fitness, population dynamics, and ecosystem function. Numerous studies have evaluated phenological shifts in terr

Enhanced reservoir connectivity generally requires maximizing the intersection between hydraulic fracture (HF) and preexisting underground natural fractures (NF), while having the hydraulic fracture cross the natural fractures (and not arrest). We have studied the interaction between a hydraulic fracture and a polished saw-cut fault. The experiments include a hydraulic fracture initiating from a p