USGS scientist collecting water samples from an amphibian monitoring site in Livermore, California.
James Orlando
James Orlando is a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey and has been with the California Water Science Center since 1999.
James received his BS and MS degrees from California State University Sacramento. His focus at the USGS has been on examining spatial and temporal trends in concentrations of pesticides, mercury, and other contaminants found in surface water, sediment and biota of freshwater and estuarine ecosystems. His additional research interests include using GIS to display, analyze and model environmental and anthropogenic variables in an effort to better understand their impacts on sensitive ecosystems. He is currently a project chief in charge of USGS, Pesticide Fate Research Group studies taking place within California.
Science and Products
High-frequency Monitoring of Delta Island Drainage Waters
From the second half of the 19th century, land reclamation has transformed the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta). The landscape of the Delta has gone from a network of shifting waterways and tidal marshland to channels and islands fixed in position by hardened levees.
Neonicotinoid Seed Treatment Study
Neonicotinoids are a new class of insecticides chemically related to nicotine. Like nicotine, they act on receptors in the nerves and are generally much more toxic to insects, than they are to mammals and other higher organisms. Their use has increased rapidly over the last decade, driven in large part by their use for seed coating. Seed coating is when a seed is treated with an insecticide prior...
Occurrence of Current-use Pesticides in Suisun Bay and Potential Effects on Phytoplankton
Suisun Bay is an area identified as critical habitat for the threatened Delta Smelt. Several important changes in the pelagic food web of this area have been documented over the last two decades indicating that food for Delta Smelt and other threatened fishes is in short.
Pesticide Studies in the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta and San Francisco Bay Estuary
The objectives of this specific study are to characterize the mixtures of current-use pesticides and pesticide degradates entering the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta from its two main river sources over a period of 12 consecutive months.
Pesticide Occurrence in California – Yolo Bypass Pesticide Analyses
The project is part of an overarching Interagency Ecological Program (IEP)/Department of Water Resources (DWR) study that is focused on understanding the processes by which the Yolo Bypass may provide a fall food web supply for the Cache Slough Complex and downstream regions of the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta. Several studies conducted since 2011 have shown that phytoplankton blooms can be...
Delta Regional Monitoring Program: Current-use Pesticides
This study will utilize the unique analytical capabilities of the USGS Pesticide Fate Research Group (PFRG), Organic Chemistry Research Laboratory (OCRL) to assess the occurrence of a large suite of understudied, current-use pesticides and pesticide degradates in surface waters entering the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta.
Coordinated Pesticide Reconnaissance Study of Surface Waters in California
Pesticides are used throughout the State of California in both urban and agricultural settings and are routinely detected in surface water. Each year, new pesticides are introduced to the market and often become detected in surface water. It can take several years or more for routine monitoring programs to acquire the capability to detect new and understudied pesticides of concern because...
Pesticides in Suspended Sediment of the Alamo and New Rivers
Previous studies have detected current-use pesticides and DDT metabolites in water and suspended sediments from the Alamo and New Rivers. Additional studies have found water samples from both rivers to be toxic to aquatic organisms in laboratory bioassays, and implicated certain current-use pesticides as the source of this toxicity. Recent requirements under the Clean Water Act for the Regional...
Pesticide Fate Research Group (PFRG)
Pesticides are used in both agricultural and urban settings to manage unwanted plants, insects, fungi, and other pests. However, these substances and their breakdown products can move beyond their intended application sites through various means, ending up in areas where they weren't meant to be. This movement can happen via the air, through water (both surface and groundwater), and by sticking to...
USGS scientist collecting water samples from an amphibian monitoring
USGS scientist collecting water samples from an amphibian monitoring site in Livermore, California.
USGS Scientist Collect Water Samples
USGS scientist collecting water samples for pesticide analysis at Woodward Resevoir Pond near Oakdale, California.
USGS scientist collecting water samples for pesticide analysis at Woodward Resevoir Pond near Oakdale, California.
USGS scientist dissecting a summer flounder
USGS scientist dissecting a summer flounder. Science Feature that the image was used on was Pesticides Common in California Estuary
USGS scientist dissecting a summer flounder. Science Feature that the image was used on was Pesticides Common in California Estuary
Science and Products
High-frequency Monitoring of Delta Island Drainage Waters
From the second half of the 19th century, land reclamation has transformed the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta). The landscape of the Delta has gone from a network of shifting waterways and tidal marshland to channels and islands fixed in position by hardened levees.
Neonicotinoid Seed Treatment Study
Neonicotinoids are a new class of insecticides chemically related to nicotine. Like nicotine, they act on receptors in the nerves and are generally much more toxic to insects, than they are to mammals and other higher organisms. Their use has increased rapidly over the last decade, driven in large part by their use for seed coating. Seed coating is when a seed is treated with an insecticide prior...
Occurrence of Current-use Pesticides in Suisun Bay and Potential Effects on Phytoplankton
Suisun Bay is an area identified as critical habitat for the threatened Delta Smelt. Several important changes in the pelagic food web of this area have been documented over the last two decades indicating that food for Delta Smelt and other threatened fishes is in short.
Pesticide Studies in the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta and San Francisco Bay Estuary
The objectives of this specific study are to characterize the mixtures of current-use pesticides and pesticide degradates entering the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta from its two main river sources over a period of 12 consecutive months.
Pesticide Occurrence in California – Yolo Bypass Pesticide Analyses
The project is part of an overarching Interagency Ecological Program (IEP)/Department of Water Resources (DWR) study that is focused on understanding the processes by which the Yolo Bypass may provide a fall food web supply for the Cache Slough Complex and downstream regions of the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta. Several studies conducted since 2011 have shown that phytoplankton blooms can be...
Delta Regional Monitoring Program: Current-use Pesticides
This study will utilize the unique analytical capabilities of the USGS Pesticide Fate Research Group (PFRG), Organic Chemistry Research Laboratory (OCRL) to assess the occurrence of a large suite of understudied, current-use pesticides and pesticide degradates in surface waters entering the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta.
Coordinated Pesticide Reconnaissance Study of Surface Waters in California
Pesticides are used throughout the State of California in both urban and agricultural settings and are routinely detected in surface water. Each year, new pesticides are introduced to the market and often become detected in surface water. It can take several years or more for routine monitoring programs to acquire the capability to detect new and understudied pesticides of concern because...
Pesticides in Suspended Sediment of the Alamo and New Rivers
Previous studies have detected current-use pesticides and DDT metabolites in water and suspended sediments from the Alamo and New Rivers. Additional studies have found water samples from both rivers to be toxic to aquatic organisms in laboratory bioassays, and implicated certain current-use pesticides as the source of this toxicity. Recent requirements under the Clean Water Act for the Regional...
Pesticide Fate Research Group (PFRG)
Pesticides are used in both agricultural and urban settings to manage unwanted plants, insects, fungi, and other pests. However, these substances and their breakdown products can move beyond their intended application sites through various means, ending up in areas where they weren't meant to be. This movement can happen via the air, through water (both surface and groundwater), and by sticking to...
USGS scientist collecting water samples from an amphibian monitoring
USGS scientist collecting water samples from an amphibian monitoring site in Livermore, California.
USGS scientist collecting water samples from an amphibian monitoring site in Livermore, California.
USGS Scientist Collect Water Samples
USGS scientist collecting water samples for pesticide analysis at Woodward Resevoir Pond near Oakdale, California.
USGS scientist collecting water samples for pesticide analysis at Woodward Resevoir Pond near Oakdale, California.
USGS scientist dissecting a summer flounder
USGS scientist dissecting a summer flounder. Science Feature that the image was used on was Pesticides Common in California Estuary
USGS scientist dissecting a summer flounder. Science Feature that the image was used on was Pesticides Common in California Estuary