All Publications

Earthquake risk associated with Quito, Ecuador; Cali, Colombia; and Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic is examined by generating a set of hypothetical earthquake scenarios considering seismic sources, recent seismicity, and major historical earthquakes recorded in the vicinity. In this study, particular focus is given to the development of earthquake scenarios for use in emergency plan

There have been few attempts to consolidate legacy and insensitive munitions analyses. Furthermore, there are no standard methods for insensitive munitions (IM) in tissues, resulting in overlapping methods and supplementary analyses. The goal of the present study was to validate extraction and instrumental methods previously developed and address analytical methodology gaps (missing tissue matrice

Submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) provides critical structural habitat for valuable nekton and wildlife species across coastal ecosystems and can buffer the negative effects of land loss. Landscape change and restoration efforts across coastal Louisiana can impact the occurrence, coverage, and species assemblages of SAV, and changes to these foundational species can have cascading impacts across

Coastal Louisiana is a complex landscape. The composition of the landscape, as well as the processes which influence said landscape, vary in both space and time. The models used in the 2023 Coastal Master Plan must attempt to reflect that spatial and temporal variability. It is therefore of the utmost importance that the spatial data sets upon which the models are initialized are of the highest qu

Sand ripples significantly impact morphodynamics in the nearshore by generating coherent vortices, which can transport suspended sediment to greater heights in the water column than above flat beds. Coherent vortices can trap sediment grains if the settling velocity of the grain is smaller than the maximum vertical fluid velocity in the vortex (Nielsen 1992). Particle image and tracking velocimetr

The predictive power of mineral prospectivity analysis depends on high quality, spatially accurate, analysis-ready datasets. Of paramount importance are geologic maps and mineral site data, but the state of readiness for utilizing these datasets remains sub-optimal for advanced computational techniques. As the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) fulfils its mission to map the distribution of critical mi

The use of the phrase “harmful algal bloom” and the acronym HAB originated in the marine science world, and referred to blooms also known as red tides, which can kill fish and sea life. The organisms that make up marine HABs generally do not thrive in lakes. In freshwater, HABs are most often associated with blooms of toxin-producing cyanobacteria. The term HAB started to be used broadly in the ea

The 3rd Pylith Hackathon was held June 12–17, 2023, at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado with funding from the Computational Infrastructure for Geodynamics (CIG). The hackathon involved 17 participants working on 5 different projects to implement new features and create new examples for the PyLith crustal deformation modeling software. The projects included (1) spontaneous rupture u

The Little Colorado River alluvial aquifer near Leupp, Arizona, was investigated as a possible source of irrigation water for the Leupp and Birdsprings Chapters of the Navajo Nation. The physical, chemical, and hydraulic characteristics of the alluvial aquifer were studied using geophysical surveys, installation of observation wells, water-level measurements, chemical analyses, groundwater pumping

Crayfish have experienced extensive assemblage reorganization as a result of global change, with some species becoming globally invasive and others becoming rare or extinct. We combined historical and contemporary sampling data to determine temporal trends of crayfish assemblages of Wyoming, USA, identifying winners and losers over a ½ century of change (1969–2020). We first documented range expan

Predicting where invasive plants are likely to spread and become abundant is critical for informing invasive plant management. Species distribution models are a key tool for informing the geography of invasion risk, but most distribution models are limited by their use of presence data, including no information on invader population abundance. In this study, we ask how habitat suitability varies f

Nearshore ecosystem monitoring in western Prince William Sound, Kenai Fjords National Park, Kachemak Bay, and Katmai National Park and Preserve has been conducted as a single Nearshore Component of the Gulf Watch Alaska program over the past five years (2017-2021). This program builds on the previous five years and continues, in many cases, decades of preceding research and monitoring. During the