Jonathan Kennen
Jonathan has worked throughout his career to advance ecological and ecohydrological science as part of the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Water-Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA), National Water Census (NWC), Water Availability and Use Science Program (WAUSP) and Integrated Water Prediction (IWP) Program.
Dr. Kennen currently conducts and coordinates a highly diverse range of research to address the informational needs of the USGS, its partners, state agencies and NGOs. His research is centered on three primary areas: 1) evaluating the effects of hydrologic modification on stream assemblages, 2) assessing the effects of anthropogenic activities on aquatic ecosystem structure and function and 3) modeling flow alteration-ecology response relations. He is a co-developer of the USGS Hydroecological Integrity Assessment (HIT) Process which implements a set of tools for setting environmental-flow standards and comparing past and proposed streamflow alterations. Other ongoing research efforts include assessing the effects of water-supply development on aquatic assemblages, modeling the responses of stream macroinvertebrate and fish assemblages to land use changes, evaluating methods to support TMDL processes using hydrologic modification as a surrogate for aquatic life impairment, assessing ecological trends, and evaluating the effects of climate change on hydrological and ecological response. Dr. Kennen also represents the U.S. Geological Survey on multi-agency technical advisory committees addressing complex ecological, hydrological, water-quality, management, and natural resource issues and currently serves on the New Jersey Science Advisory Board (Ecological Processes Committee) and the Advisory Council for the New Jersey Water Resources Research Institute.
Professional Experience
2010-present, Member of New Jersey Science Advisory Board (Ecological Processes Committee).
2007, Co-developer of the USGS Hydroecological Integrity Assessment (HIT) Process which implements a set of tools for setting environmental-flow standards, and comparing past and proposed streamflow alterations.
2003-present, Member of New Jersey IBI Technical Advisory Committee.
2002-present, Member of Advisory Council of the New Jersey Water Resources Research Institute.
1996-present, Member of the Interagency Macroinvertebrate Biomonitoring Workgroup.
Referee for various journals including: Society for Freshwater Science, Ecohydrology, Freshwater Biology, Ecological Modelling, North American Journal of Fisheries Management, and American Water Resources Association.
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. Fisheries Biology, SUNY - College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY
M.S. Aquatic Entomology, SUNY - College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY
B.S. Biology, Longwood College, Farmville, VA
A.A. Liberal Arts, Suffolk Community College Selden, New York Professional Membership
Affiliations and Memberships*
Society for Freshwater Science
Sigma Xi
American Fisheries Society
American Institute of Fishery Research Biologists Professional Service
Science and Products
Evaluating the Use of Models for Projecting Future Water Flow in the Southeast
Unravelling the influence of landscape alteration from flow alteration on benthic macroinvertebrate assemblage response in the Delaware River Basin
Evaluating the impact of watershed development and climate change on stream ecosystems: A Bayesian network modeling approach
Ecological forecasting—21st century science for 21st century management
Natural resource managers are coping with rapid changes in both environmental conditions and ecosystems. Enabled by recent advances in data collection and assimilation, short-term ecological forecasting may be a powerful tool to help resource managers anticipate impending near-term changes in ecosystem conditions or dynamics. Managers may use the information in forecasts to minimize the adverse ef
Hydrologic modeling for flow-ecology science in the Southeastern United States and Puerto Rico
The accuracy of ecological flow metrics derived using a physics-based distributed rainfall-runoff model in the Great Plains, USA
Continuing progress toward a national assessment of water availability and use
Evaluating and managing environmental water regimes in a water-scarce and uncertain future
Recent advances in environmental flows science and water management—Innovation in the Anthropocene
Using regional scale flow–ecology modeling to identify catchments where fish assemblages are most vulnerable to changes in water availability
A comparison of hydrologic models for ecological flows and water availability
An objective and parsimonious approach for classifying natural flow regimes at a continental scale
Stream macroinvertebrate response models for bioassessment metrics: addressing the issue of spatial scale
Science and Products
Evaluating the Use of Models for Projecting Future Water Flow in the Southeast
Unravelling the influence of landscape alteration from flow alteration on benthic macroinvertebrate assemblage response in the Delaware River Basin
Evaluating the impact of watershed development and climate change on stream ecosystems: A Bayesian network modeling approach
Ecological forecasting—21st century science for 21st century management
Natural resource managers are coping with rapid changes in both environmental conditions and ecosystems. Enabled by recent advances in data collection and assimilation, short-term ecological forecasting may be a powerful tool to help resource managers anticipate impending near-term changes in ecosystem conditions or dynamics. Managers may use the information in forecasts to minimize the adverse ef
Hydrologic modeling for flow-ecology science in the Southeastern United States and Puerto Rico
The accuracy of ecological flow metrics derived using a physics-based distributed rainfall-runoff model in the Great Plains, USA
Continuing progress toward a national assessment of water availability and use
Evaluating and managing environmental water regimes in a water-scarce and uncertain future
Recent advances in environmental flows science and water management—Innovation in the Anthropocene
Using regional scale flow–ecology modeling to identify catchments where fish assemblages are most vulnerable to changes in water availability
A comparison of hydrologic models for ecological flows and water availability
An objective and parsimonious approach for classifying natural flow regimes at a continental scale
Stream macroinvertebrate response models for bioassessment metrics: addressing the issue of spatial scale
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government