Education
B.A. in Environmental Studies from the University of Pittsburgh (2012)
Master’s Thesis Project 2016
The Influence of Different Urban Land Uses on Water Quality and Management of Stormwater Ponds. Urbanization is a significant anthropogenic force that degrades environmental quality. Urban development significantly alters the hydrology, flow, and quality of rivers lakes and streams producing flashier hydrographs, higher nutrient and pollutant loads, and reduced biodiversity. Stormwater ponds are a popular best management practice (BMP) to mitigate the impacts of urban land use on downstream water bodies. These anthropogenic water bodies contribute significantly to the total area of aquatic ecosystems in some urban watersheds, but they have not been well studied. The purpose of my research is to investigate how different urban land uses influence ecological conditions and management of stormwater ponds in a rapidly developing suburban watershed. I will evaluate various limnological and ecological parameters in randomly selected ponds distributed among three urban land-use classes: high-density residential, institutional, and roadways, in the Econlockhatchee River watershed. The institutional land-use class will focus on K-12 schools and the roadway land-use class will focus on ponds associated with local toll roads and Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) roads. Ecological measures will include characterization of the plant community in pond littoral zones and extent of any algal mats. Limnological measures will include water physical parameters (pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, and clarity), and nutrient concentrations (nitrate, ammonium, total Nitrogen, dissolved reactive phosphorus, total Phosphorus, and chlorophyll a). Pond management among land use classes will be compared using a management intensity index. The results will increase our understanding of urban land-use impact on water quality and may inform effective natural resource management and urban planning for stormwater basins. Click here to read full thesis.