Tamara Kraus
Tamara Kraus is a Research Soil Scientist at the California Water Science Center.
Tamara Kraus received a master's degree in Agronomy and a doctoral degree in Soils and Biogeochemistry from the University of California, Davis. She has been working at the USGS California Water Science Center (CAWSC) in Sacramento since 2004, where she does research on the cycling of carbon and nutrients, and the linkages between terrestrial and aquatic systems. Her projects span a range of topics from identifying sources of dissolved organic carbon and to inform drinking water quality management, to using constructed wetlands to reverse subsidence, to the application of in situ coagulation to remove mercury from surface waters, to understanding the links between nutrients and phytoplankton.
Professional Experience
2010-present Soil Scientist, US Geological Survey, Sacramento, CA
2006-2009 Post Doctoral Researcher, US Geological Survey through UC Davis, Sacramento, CA
2004-2005 National Research Council Post Doctoral Fellow with US Geological Survey, Sacramento, CA
1996-2003 Research Assistant: Soil Chemistry Lab, , University of California, Davis, CA
1996-2003 Teaching Assistant: Soils and Biogeochemistry, , University of California, Davis, CA
1995-1996 Post-Graduate Researcher/Project Manager, University of California, Davis, CA
1992-1994 Research Assistant: Agronomy, University of California, Davis, CA
Education and Certifications
Ph.D., Soils and Biogeochemistry, 2002, University of California, Davis , CA Dissertation: Tannins and Nutrient Dynamics in Forest Soils: Plant-Litter-Soil Interactions
M.S., Agronomy and Range Science, 1994, University of California, Davis, CAThesis: Weed Abundance and Competition in Water-Seeded versus Drill-Seeded Rice in California
B.A., Biology and Society: Agriculture and the Environment, 1989, College of Arts and Sciences Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Science and Products
High-frequency Monitoring of Delta Island Drainage Waters
Biogeochemistry Group
Sampling Locations for the Water Quality of San Francisco Bay Project
Sampling Methods for the Water Quality of San Francisco Bay Project
Assessing Sediment Nutrient Storage and Release in California's Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
Evaluating the effects of wastewater-derived nutrients on phytoplankton abundance and community structure in the San Francisco Estuary and Delta
Water Quality of San Francisco Bay Research and Monitoring Project
Modeling Nitrogen Reduction Benefit to Invasive Aquatic Vegetation vs. Native Phytoplankton
Monitoring Cyanotoxins in California's Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta: Fixed Stations and High-Resolution Mapping Surveys
Trends in Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
Subsidence in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
High-Speed Mapping of Nutrient Distributions and Water Quality Survey - Lower South San Francisco Bay
Above-water hyperspectral field spectroscopy measurements at Franks Tract in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California
Assessing spatial variability of nutrients, phytoplankton, and related water-quality constituents in the San Francisco Bay, California: 2021-2022 High-resolution mapping surveys
Water quality, nutrient, and phytoplankton data from Franks Tract, Mildred Island, and neighboring channels in the California Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta: 2022 and 2023 High-resolution mapping surveys
Assessing spatial variability of nutrients, phytoplankton and related water-quality constituents in the California Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta at the landscape scale: 2020-2021 High-resolution mapping surveys
Assessing spatial variability of nutrients, phytoplankton, and related water quality constituents in the California Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta during treated wastewater effluent holds: August and September 2019 high resolution mapping surveys
Phytoplankton Species Composition and Abundance in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta: Microscopic Enumeration of USGS Samples, beginning in 2016 (ver. 1.1, December 2023)
Assessing spatial variability of nutrients, phytoplankton, and related water quality constituents in the California Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta related to the 2015 installation of the False River Emergency Drought Barrier: 2015 and 2016 high-resolution m
Absorbance and fluorescence measurements and concentrations of disinfection by-products in source water and finished water in the McKenzie River Basin, Oregon: 2012-2014
Produced water chemistry data for the Lost Hills, Fruitvale, and North and South Belridge study areas, Southern San Joaquin Valley, California (version 1.1, September 2020)
Characterization of water residence time, nutrients, phytoplankton and related water quality constituents in the Cache Slough Complex of the California Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in 2017 and 2018
Spatial assessment of nutrients and water-quality constituents in Suisun Marsh with the salinity control gate reoperation experiment; a Delta Smelt Resiliency Strategy experiment 2018
Assessment of water-quality in the California Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta during a North Delta directed flow action: August - October 2018
Land-use interactions, Oil-Field infrastructure, and natural processes control hydrocarbon and arsenic concentrations in groundwater, Poso Creek Oil Field, California, USA
Assessing spatial variability of nutrients, phytoplankton, and related water-quality constituents in the California Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta at the landscape scale—2018 high resolution mapping surveys
Physics to fish—Understanding the factors that create and sustain native fish habitat in the San Francisco Estuary
Etiology of a fish kill, Including the endangered Tidewater Goby (Eucyclogobius newberryi), in a northeastern pacific coastal lagoon
A novel boat-based field application of a high-frequency conductometric ammonium analyzer to characterize spatial variation in aquatic ecosystems
Spectral characterization of dissolved organic matter in groundwater to assess mixing with oil-field water near selected oil fields, southern California
Sacramento River nutrient change study
Sources and characteristics of dissolved organic carbon in the McKenzie River, Oregon, related to the formation of disinfection by-products in treated drinking water
Stable isotopes provide insight into sources and cycling of N compounds in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California, USA
Ocean connectivity drives trophic support for consumers in an intermittently closed coastal lagoon
Changing nitrogen inputs to the northern San Francisco Estuary: Potential ecosystem responses and opportunities for investigation
Lateral carbon exports from drained peatlands: An understudied carbon pathway in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California
Bay- Delta Water Quality, Nutrient and Phytoplankton Mapping | US Geological Survey
Data visualization tool created for California's Bay-Delta Regional Monitoring Program. This web applicaton visualizes nutrients and phytoplankton spatially and temporally.
Science and Products
High-frequency Monitoring of Delta Island Drainage Waters
Biogeochemistry Group
Sampling Locations for the Water Quality of San Francisco Bay Project
Sampling Methods for the Water Quality of San Francisco Bay Project
Assessing Sediment Nutrient Storage and Release in California's Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
Evaluating the effects of wastewater-derived nutrients on phytoplankton abundance and community structure in the San Francisco Estuary and Delta
Water Quality of San Francisco Bay Research and Monitoring Project
Modeling Nitrogen Reduction Benefit to Invasive Aquatic Vegetation vs. Native Phytoplankton
Monitoring Cyanotoxins in California's Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta: Fixed Stations and High-Resolution Mapping Surveys
Trends in Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
Subsidence in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
High-Speed Mapping of Nutrient Distributions and Water Quality Survey - Lower South San Francisco Bay
Above-water hyperspectral field spectroscopy measurements at Franks Tract in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California
Assessing spatial variability of nutrients, phytoplankton, and related water-quality constituents in the San Francisco Bay, California: 2021-2022 High-resolution mapping surveys
Water quality, nutrient, and phytoplankton data from Franks Tract, Mildred Island, and neighboring channels in the California Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta: 2022 and 2023 High-resolution mapping surveys
Assessing spatial variability of nutrients, phytoplankton and related water-quality constituents in the California Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta at the landscape scale: 2020-2021 High-resolution mapping surveys
Assessing spatial variability of nutrients, phytoplankton, and related water quality constituents in the California Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta during treated wastewater effluent holds: August and September 2019 high resolution mapping surveys
Phytoplankton Species Composition and Abundance in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta: Microscopic Enumeration of USGS Samples, beginning in 2016 (ver. 1.1, December 2023)
Assessing spatial variability of nutrients, phytoplankton, and related water quality constituents in the California Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta related to the 2015 installation of the False River Emergency Drought Barrier: 2015 and 2016 high-resolution m
Absorbance and fluorescence measurements and concentrations of disinfection by-products in source water and finished water in the McKenzie River Basin, Oregon: 2012-2014
Produced water chemistry data for the Lost Hills, Fruitvale, and North and South Belridge study areas, Southern San Joaquin Valley, California (version 1.1, September 2020)
Characterization of water residence time, nutrients, phytoplankton and related water quality constituents in the Cache Slough Complex of the California Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in 2017 and 2018
Spatial assessment of nutrients and water-quality constituents in Suisun Marsh with the salinity control gate reoperation experiment; a Delta Smelt Resiliency Strategy experiment 2018
Assessment of water-quality in the California Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta during a North Delta directed flow action: August - October 2018
Land-use interactions, Oil-Field infrastructure, and natural processes control hydrocarbon and arsenic concentrations in groundwater, Poso Creek Oil Field, California, USA
Assessing spatial variability of nutrients, phytoplankton, and related water-quality constituents in the California Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta at the landscape scale—2018 high resolution mapping surveys
Physics to fish—Understanding the factors that create and sustain native fish habitat in the San Francisco Estuary
Etiology of a fish kill, Including the endangered Tidewater Goby (Eucyclogobius newberryi), in a northeastern pacific coastal lagoon
A novel boat-based field application of a high-frequency conductometric ammonium analyzer to characterize spatial variation in aquatic ecosystems
Spectral characterization of dissolved organic matter in groundwater to assess mixing with oil-field water near selected oil fields, southern California
Sacramento River nutrient change study
Sources and characteristics of dissolved organic carbon in the McKenzie River, Oregon, related to the formation of disinfection by-products in treated drinking water
Stable isotopes provide insight into sources and cycling of N compounds in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California, USA
Ocean connectivity drives trophic support for consumers in an intermittently closed coastal lagoon
Changing nitrogen inputs to the northern San Francisco Estuary: Potential ecosystem responses and opportunities for investigation
Lateral carbon exports from drained peatlands: An understudied carbon pathway in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California
Bay- Delta Water Quality, Nutrient and Phytoplankton Mapping | US Geological Survey
Data visualization tool created for California's Bay-Delta Regional Monitoring Program. This web applicaton visualizes nutrients and phytoplankton spatially and temporally.