Alison Appling, PhD
Alison Appling, Ph.D., is a data scientist and ecologist who applies machine learning and other data-driven methods to predict and understand water resources dynamics.
Current Roles
- Project Manager: Nutrient Prediction Innovation and Evaluation (NPIE)
- Project Manager: Predictive Understanding of Multiscale Processes (PUMP)
- Task Lead: Advancing Machine Learning and Data Assimilation, within the PUMP Project
Alison studies the movement of energy, carbon, and nutrients through rivers, lakes, and floodplains to better predict and understand variations in water quality over space and time.
As a machine learning modeler and biogeochemist, Alison seeks modeling advances that bring together scientific knowledge and data-driven models, using approaches including process-guided deep learning and differentiable hydrology.
As a data scientist, Alison conducts analyses in ways that are reproducible, efficient, and transparent, and Alison has developed tools and workflows to support others in these goals.
In leadership roles, Alison plans projects and organizes teams to deliver relevant, timely, high-quality products; challenges individuals to excel in their projects and careers; and coordinates across projects to realize the Water Mission Area’s vision of fit-for-purpose, integrated tools for modeling water quantity and quality across the nation.
Alison is a member of the Analysis and Prediction Branch in the Integrated Modeling and Prediction Division in the Water Resources Mission Area. Alison is on the USGS career track called Equipment Development Grade Evaluation (EDGE).
Professional Experience
Development Ecologist and Data Scientist, U.S. Geological Survey, 2019-Present
Ecologist, U.S. Geological Survey, 2016-2019
Postdoctoral Fellow, USGS Powell Center and University of Wisconsin-Madison. Mentors: E. H. Stanley, J. S. Read, E. G. Stets, and R. O. Hall, 2015-2016
Postdoctoral Associate, University of New Hampshire. Mentor: W. H. McDowell, 2013-2015
Postdoctoral Associate, Duke University. Mentor: J. B. Heffernan, 2012-2013
Ph.D. Student and Teaching Assistant: Organismal Diversity, Aquatic Field Ecology, and General Microbiology, University Program in Ecology, Duke University, 2006-2012
Research Technician, Stanford University & Carnegie Institution of Washington, 2004-2006
Undergraduate Teaching Assistant: Programming Paradigms and Discrete Mathematics, Computer Science, Stanford University, 2001-2003
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. Ecology, 2012. Duke University, Durham, NC.
Connectivity Drives Function: Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics in a Floodplain-Aquifer Ecosystem. Advisors: E. S. Bernhardt and R. B. Jackson
B.S. Symbolic Systems, 2004. Stanford University, Stanford, CA.
Science and Products
Integrated Water Prediction (IWP)
Downscaling and multi-scale modeling of stream temperature in five watersheds of the Delaware River Basin, 1979-2021
Distance matrices and river-network crosswalks for the Geospatial Fabric v1.1 to support data-driven models of water quality in U.S. rivers
Compilation of multi-agency water temperature observations for U.S. streams, 1894-2022
Delaware River Basin Stream Salinity Machine Learning Models and Data
Identifying structural priors in a hybrid differentiable model for stream water temperature modeling at 415 U.S. basin outlets, 2010-2016
Model Code, Outputs, and Supporting Data for Approaches to Process-Guided Deep Learning for Groundwater-Influenced Stream Temperature Predictions
Predictions and supporting data for network-wide 7-day ahead forecasts of water temperature in the Delaware River Basin
A deep learning model and associated data to support understanding and simulation of salinity dynamics in Delaware Bay
Examining the influence of deep learning architecture on generalizability for predicting stream temperature in the Delaware River Basin
Deep learning approaches for improving prediction of daily stream temperature in data-scarce, unmonitored, and dammed basins
Model predictions for heterogeneous stream-reservoir graph networks with data assimilation
Stream temperature predictions in the Delaware River Basin using pseudo-prospective learning and physical simulations
Integrated Hydro-terrestrial Modeling 2.0: Progress and path forward on building a national capability
Predictive understanding of stream salinization in a developed watershed using machine learning
Stream nitrate dynamics driven primarily by discharge and watershed physical and soil characteristics at intensively monitored sites: Insights from deep learning
Deep learning of estuary salinity dynamics is physically accurate at a fraction of hydrodynamic model computational cost
Deep learning for water quality
Train, inform, borrow, or combine? Approaches to process-guided deep learning for groundwater-influenced stream temperature prediction
Identifying structural priors in a hybrid differentiable model for stream water temperature modeling
Differentiable modelling to unify machine learning and physical models for geosciences
Evaluating deep learning architecture and data assimilation for improving water temperature forecasts at unmonitored locations
Stream temperature prediction in a shifting environment: The influence of deep learning architecture
Near-term forecasts of stream temperature using deep learning and data assimilation in support of management decisions
Physics-guided architecture (PGA) of LSTM models for uncertainty quantification in lake temperature modeling
Non-USGS Publications**
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Science and Products
Integrated Water Prediction (IWP)
Downscaling and multi-scale modeling of stream temperature in five watersheds of the Delaware River Basin, 1979-2021
Distance matrices and river-network crosswalks for the Geospatial Fabric v1.1 to support data-driven models of water quality in U.S. rivers
Compilation of multi-agency water temperature observations for U.S. streams, 1894-2022
Delaware River Basin Stream Salinity Machine Learning Models and Data
Identifying structural priors in a hybrid differentiable model for stream water temperature modeling at 415 U.S. basin outlets, 2010-2016
Model Code, Outputs, and Supporting Data for Approaches to Process-Guided Deep Learning for Groundwater-Influenced Stream Temperature Predictions
Predictions and supporting data for network-wide 7-day ahead forecasts of water temperature in the Delaware River Basin
A deep learning model and associated data to support understanding and simulation of salinity dynamics in Delaware Bay
Examining the influence of deep learning architecture on generalizability for predicting stream temperature in the Delaware River Basin
Deep learning approaches for improving prediction of daily stream temperature in data-scarce, unmonitored, and dammed basins
Model predictions for heterogeneous stream-reservoir graph networks with data assimilation
Stream temperature predictions in the Delaware River Basin using pseudo-prospective learning and physical simulations
Integrated Hydro-terrestrial Modeling 2.0: Progress and path forward on building a national capability
Predictive understanding of stream salinization in a developed watershed using machine learning
Stream nitrate dynamics driven primarily by discharge and watershed physical and soil characteristics at intensively monitored sites: Insights from deep learning
Deep learning of estuary salinity dynamics is physically accurate at a fraction of hydrodynamic model computational cost
Deep learning for water quality
Train, inform, borrow, or combine? Approaches to process-guided deep learning for groundwater-influenced stream temperature prediction
Identifying structural priors in a hybrid differentiable model for stream water temperature modeling
Differentiable modelling to unify machine learning and physical models for geosciences
Evaluating deep learning architecture and data assimilation for improving water temperature forecasts at unmonitored locations
Stream temperature prediction in a shifting environment: The influence of deep learning architecture
Near-term forecasts of stream temperature using deep learning and data assimilation in support of management decisions
Physics-guided architecture (PGA) of LSTM models for uncertainty quantification in lake temperature modeling
Non-USGS Publications**
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.