Jacob Zwart
(He/him)Dr. Jacob Zwart (he/him) is a data scientist for the USGS Water Resources Mission Area.
Jacob Zwart works within the Data Science Branch of the Water Resources Mission Area to develop aquatic ecosystem modeling techniques that provide timely information to stakeholders about important water resources across the nation. He uses his expertise in computational modeling, data assimilation, and limnology to help produce short-term forecasts of water quality at regional scales to aid in water resources decision making. Jacob’s research themes are: 1) improve understanding of aquatic biogeochemical processes and predicting how these processes may respond to future global change, 2) develop techniques to inject scientific knowledge into machine learning models to make accurate predictions of environmental variables (also known as “knowledge-guided machine learning”), and 3) advance methods for assimilating real-time observations into knowledge-guided machine learning models to improve near-term forecasts of water quality. Jacob also serves as a Peer Support Worker at USGS promoting awareness and education on topics and USGS policies for antiharassment, discrimination, biases, and scientific integrity, as well as providing peer-to-peer support for USGS employees.
Professional Experience
2021 – present: Data Scientist, Integrated Information Dissemination Division
2019 – 2021: Mendenhall Postdoctoral Fellow, Integrated Information Dissemination Division
2017 – 2019: National Science Foundation Earth Sciences Postdoctoral Fellow, Integrated Information Dissemination Division
2014 – 2017: National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, University of Notre Dame
2012 – 2014: Research and Teaching Assistant, University of Notre Dame
Education and Certifications
Ph.D., Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, 2017
B.S., Biology, Calvin College, 2012
Honors and Awards
U.S. Geological Survey Mendenhall Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2019 – 2021
National Science Foundation Earth Sciences Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2017 – 2019
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, 2014 – 2017
University of Notre Dame Linked Experimental Ecosystem Facility Research Grant, 2017
Exceptional Promise in Graduate Research Award, Ecological Society of America Aquatic Ecology Section, 2015
University of Notre Dame Center for Aquatic Conservation Graduate Fellow, 2014
University of Notre Dame Environmental Research Center Graduate Research Fellowship, 2013 – 2015
University of Notre Dame Environmental Research Center Graduate Mentoring Fellowship, 2012