GEO

Work with USGS scientists to apply high performance computing principles and techniques to solve national and international earth science challenges.

Help improve models of coastal erosion and morphologic change! This project offers an opportunity to collect and process various kinds of oceanographic and morphologic data using instruments and images recorded with our beach cam and drones. Or it can be a chance to develop and test numerical models. In either case, the results will help the USGS make forecasts of coastal erosion during storms.

Spend a summer on the shore of Lake Michigan, investigating the role that dynamic dune disturbance and successional processes play in the spatial metapopulation dynamics of Pitcher’s thistle, a federally threatened plant. This project will provide a basis for developing spatial population models that can indicate the present and future conditions for the species in the Great Lakes.

Want to conduct collaborative eco-geomorphic research at the forefront of climate change impacts? We have a novel landscape-scale ecosystem experiment, using two adjacent tidal rivers with a 9x difference in watershed sediment loads, to determine how sediment availability regulates the resilience or loss of tidal freshwater wetlands as the result of sea level rise and salinization.

Subduction zone earthquakes, can generate ground shaking that lasts several minutes. Typical earthquake risk assessments do not account for such long-duration ground shaking. Earthquake engineers and scientists at the USGS and elsewhere are colllaborating to change this.

Never has a tool been able to map the location and phenological status of buffelgrass, including nascent populations, on a regional scale. Developed for a specific management issue, CLaRe metrics hold promise for many natural resource applications. You will demonstrate these metrics in the context of an important management issue of your choice developed with the principal investigator.

The need for better models and more effective use of data to characterize river corridor transport processes is keenly felt, from evaluating the effectiveness of river and watershed management practices all the way to clarifying regulatory authority under the Clean Water Act.

We are looking for a student to join our multi-disciplinary and multi-institution team exploring the relationships between energy development and air quality in the southwestern U.S. This research provides an exceptional opportunity for students to explore the complexities of land use and ecosystem function, as well as experience the diverse work environments found within the federal government.

This intern will work with an exciting team of scientists to develop novel approaches to assess wetland restoration. Methods include documenting baseline conditions and monitoring site evolution, hydrologic modeling, using shallow piezometers to estimate recharge and storage change, tracking streambed water exchanges using heat as a tracer, and estimating percolation using electrical resistivity.

Shifts in phenology provide one of the strongest indicators of an organism’s adaptive capacity to climate change, yet it is one of the most poorly known consequences of future impacts. This project seeks to improve understanding and develop adaptation strategies of the effects of phenological shifts and trophic mismatches in Atlantic coastal fish, seabird and marine mammal species.