Jennifer Murphy
Jenny is a hydrologist with the USGS, Central Midwest Water Science Center. Much of her work focuses on characterizing and understanding water-quality trends in the Nation's streams and rivers. Jenny also leads a team of scientists working to develop a proxy for harmful algal blooms in rivers.
Jenny has played an important role in characterizing water-quality trends with the Weighted Regressions on Time, Season and Discharge (WRTDS) model at >1,000 sites across the country using an extensive multi-agency dataset. Jenny's additional trends work includes looking at nitrate in the Mississippi River Basin, sediment in the lowermost Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers, and water quality in streams and rivers in the Delaware River Basin. Additionally, she has worked on projects ranging from the evaluation of best management practices in small agricultural drainages, to characterizing and understanding ecological flows, estimating water use at thermoelectric powerplants, and harmonizing multisource data. Her current interests are in trend studies, causal attribution of these trends, and exploring the influence of streamflow on water quality.
CURRENT & PAST PROJECTS
- Co-lead of multisource surface water-quality trends task as part of the IWAAs Delaware River Basin Regional Pilot
- NAWQA Surface Water Status and Trends team (Causal Analysis team lead)
- Evaluating agricultural best management practices in northwestern MS
- Ecological flows in the Cumberland and Tennessee River Basins
- Water-quality trends in the Mississippi River Basin
- Water use at thermoelectric powerplants
- Water quality in the lowermost Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers
Professional Experience
2020-Present, Hydrologist, USGS, Central Midwest Water Science Center, DeKalb, Illinois
2010-2020, Hydrologist, USGS, Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center, Nashville, TN
2007-2009, Project Geologist, ECS Limited, Nashville, TN
Summer 2007, Field Geologist, US Forest Service, Lewis and Clark National Forest, Great Falls, MT
2006-2007, Research Assistant, USGS, Eastern Mineral Resources, Reston, VA
Education and Certifications
M.S., Earth and Environmental Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, 2011
B.A., Geology, Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin, 2006
Science and Products
Water-quality data and Escherichia coli predictions for selected karst catchments of the upper Duck River watershed in central Tennessee, 2007–10
Mississippi River nitrate loads from high frequency sensor measurements and regression-based load estimation
Antecedent flow conditions and nitrate concentrations in the Mississippi River basin
Ecological limit functions relating fish community response to hydrologic departures of the ecological flow regime in the Tennessee River basin, United States
Methods for estimating water consumption for thermoelectric power plants in the United States
Nitrate in the Mississippi River and its tributaries, 1980-2010: an update
Predicting ecological flow regime at ungaged sites: A comparison of methods
Non-USGS Publications**
DOI: 10.1021/es103230n.
**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
Water-quality data and Escherichia coli predictions for selected karst catchments of the upper Duck River watershed in central Tennessee, 2007–10
Mississippi River nitrate loads from high frequency sensor measurements and regression-based load estimation
Antecedent flow conditions and nitrate concentrations in the Mississippi River basin
Ecological limit functions relating fish community response to hydrologic departures of the ecological flow regime in the Tennessee River basin, United States
Methods for estimating water consumption for thermoelectric power plants in the United States
Nitrate in the Mississippi River and its tributaries, 1980-2010: an update
Predicting ecological flow regime at ungaged sites: A comparison of methods
Non-USGS Publications**
DOI: 10.1021/es103230n.
**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.