Brief Bio

Dr. Erin Urquhart serves as Associate Program Manager for the NASA Earth Science Applied Sciences Water Resource program area. She also leads the NASA PACE Project Applications program at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center as a member of the Ocean Ecology Laboratory. Her research focuses on the use of satellite remote sensing data for monitoring and modeling of coastal, estuarine, and inland water quality. Erin engages users and stakeholders to identify their needs and science objectives while exploring innovative and practical applications of satellite Earth observation data. She works at the transdisciplinary boundary of earth science, social science, and public health using principals of Design Thinking and participatory research. Previously, Erin was a research fellow at the US Environmental Protection Agency as part of the Cyanobacteria Assessment Network (CyAN) project. She received her doctorate and master’s degrees from The Johns Hopkins University in Earth & Planetary Sciences. She also earned a master’s degree in [Environmental] Public Health from The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, a professional Design Thinking certificate from Cornell University, and a Creative Leadership certificate from IDEOU.

Positions/Employment

Education

Ph.D., Earth & Planetary Sciences-- 2014

The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

Advisor: Benjamin Zaitchik

Second Reader: Carlos Del Castillo

Dissertation: Remote Sensing and Modeling of Vibrio Bacteria in the Chesapeake Bay

M.A., Earth & Planetary Sciences-- 2011

The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

Advisor: Benjamin Zaitchik

M.H.S., Environmental Health Science-- 2009

The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA

Advisor: Jaqueline Agnew

Second Reader: Thaddeus Graczyk

Master’s Thesis: Analysis of Marine Bio-toxins and Climate Change

B.A., Global Studies and Geography-- 2007

Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA, USA

Advisor: Rheyna Laney
 

Special Experience

TRAINING/CERTIFICATIONS

• Creative Leadership Certificate, IDEOU, 2023
• Design Thinking Certificate, eCornell University, Ithaca, NY 2021
• Participatory Design Methods, Open Lab-OMB, Washington, DC 2018
• Fundamentals of Human Centered Design, Open Lab-OMB, Washington, DC 2018
• Satellite Remote Sensing Training Program, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 2008

Professional Service

Professional Board Association

• Co-chair: AGU GeoHealth Communications & Outreach Committee (Spring 2021)
• Leadership Committee Member: NASA-USFS Collaboration (Spring 2021)
• Community Engagement Officer: Science Communicators Network of North Carolina (SCONC- Fall 2019)

Editorial Boards and Peer Review

• Grant Proposal Reviewer: National Aeronautics and Space Agency, ROSES
• Journal Reviewer: PLOS One, Remote Sensing of Environment, IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, Remote Sensing, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, Toxins;

Teaching Experience

• 2010-2013 Teaching Assistant, The Johns Hopkins University
  • Courses: “Oceans and Atmospheres” and “Introduction to Sustainability”
• 2012-2013 Guest Lecturer, The Johns Hopkins University
  • Courses: “Remote Sensing of Environment”

Other Professional Information

FIELD EXPERIENCE

• 2017-2019; North Carolina, USA, Jordan Lake- Hyperspectral-radiometer optical water sampling
• 2014-2015; New Hampshire, USA, Great Bay- Water, oyster, and spectro-radiometer optical sampling
• 2010-2012; Maryland and Virginia, USA, Chesapeake Bay- Water and bacterial collection aboard the R/V Kerhin
• 2009; Maryland, USA, Baltimore County- Insect collection for Lyme disease survey
• 2007; California, USA, Avila Beach- Shellfish collection, identification of harmful algal bloom species

Awards

• 2021 Hydrosphere, Biosphere, Geophysics (HBG) Annual Peer Awards- Outreach. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
• 2020 PACE Crystal Award. NASA PACE Mission
• 2018-19 High Performance Computing (HPC) Award. High End Scientific Computing Project. USA EPA, Office of Research and Design
• 2017 High Performance Computing (HPC) Award. High End Scientific Computing Project. USA EPA, Office of Research and Design
• 2017 NASA ROSES A.30: Remote Sensing of Water Quality. Co-I: Cyanobacteria Assessment Network (CyAN) for freshwater systems: an early warning indicator of toxin and nuisance blooms using ocean color satellites
• 2017 Early Career Travel Award. ASLO Aquatic Sciences Meeting
• 2014 Best Postdoctoral Poster Presentation Award. Gordon Research Conference Oceans and Human Health
• 2013 Student Oral Presentation Competition. MEDGEO/ISPRS Annual Meeting
• 2012 Outstanding Student Presentation Award. AGU Ocean Sciences Meeting
• 2011-12 Graduate Student Summer Field Work Grant. The Johns Hopkins University
• 2010 Graduate Student Fellowship. Global Water Program, The Johns Hopkins University

Publications

Refereed

Schaeffer, B. A., E. Urquhart, M. Coffer, et al. W. Salls, R. P. Stumpf, K. A. Loftin, and P. Jeremy Werdell. 2022. "Satellites quantify the spatial extent of cyanobacterial blooms across the United States at multiple scales." Ecological Indicators, 140: 108990 [10.1016/j.ecolind.2022.108990]

Coffer, M. M., B. A. Schaeffer, W. B. Salls, et al. E. Urquhart, K. A. Loftin, R. P. Stumpf, P. J. Werdell, and J. A. Darling. 2021. "Satellite remote sensing to assess cyanobacterial bloom frequency across the United States at multiple spatial scales." Ecological Indicators, 128: 107822 [10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.107822]

Coffer, M. M., B. A. Schaeffer, K. Foreman, et al. A. Porteous, K. A. Loftin, R. P. Stumpf, P. J. Werdell, E. Urquhart, R. J. Albert, and J. A. Darling. 2021. "Assessing cyanobacterial frequency and abundance at surface waters near drinking water intakes across the United States." Water Research, 117377 [10.1016/j.watres.2021.117377]

Scott, J. P., and E. U. Jephson. 2020. "Leveraging Design Principles to Inform the Next Generation of NASA Earth Satellites." TOS Oceanography, 33 (4): 128-129 [https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2020.416]

Myer, M. H., E. Urquhart, B. A. Schaeffer, and J. M. Johnston. 2020. "Spatio-Temporal Modeling for Forecasting High-Risk Freshwater Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Blooms in Florida." Frontiers in Environmental Science, 8: [10.3389/fenvs.2020.581091]

Coffer, M. M., B. A. Schaeffer, J. A. Darling, E. A. Urquhart, and W. B. Salls. 2020. "Quantifying national and regional cyanobacterial occurrence in US lakes using satellite remote sensing." Ecological Indicators, 111: 105976 [10.1016/j.ecolind.2019.105976]

Urquhart, E. A., and B. A. Schaeffer. 2020. "Envisat MERIS and Sentinel-3 OLCI satellite lake biophysical water quality flag dataset for the contiguous United States." Data in Brief, 28: 104826 [10.1016/j.dib.2019.104826]

Hartwick, M. A., E. A. Urquhart, C. A. Whistler, et al. V. S. Cooper, E. N. Naumova, and S. H. Jones. 2019. "Forecasting Seasonal Vibrio parahaemolyticus Concentrations in New England Shellfish." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16 (22): 4341 [10.3390/ijerph16224341]

Coffer, M. M., B. A. Schaeffer, J. A. Darling, E. A. Urquhart, and W. B. Salls. 2018. "A method for quantifying the number of U.S. lakes with cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms using satellite remote sensing." Remote Sensing and Modeling of Ecosystems for Sustainability XV, [10.1117/12.2319669]

Schaeffer, B. A., S. W. Bailey, R. N. Conmy, et al. M. Galvin, A. R. Ignatius, J. M. Johnston, D. J. Keith, R. S. Lunetta, R. Parmar, R. P. Stumpf, E. A. Urquhart, P. J. Werdell, and K. Wolfe. 2018. "Mobile device application for monitoring cyanobacteria harmful algal blooms using Sentinel-3 satellite Ocean and Land Colour Instruments." Environmental Modelling & Software, 109: 93-103 [10.1016/j.envsoft.2018.08.015]

Schaeffer, B. A., J. Iiames, J. Dwyer, et al. E. Urquhart, W. Salls, J. Rover, and B. Seegers. 2018. "An initial validation of Landsat 5 and 7 derived surface water temperature for U.S. lakes, reservoirs, and estuaries." International Journal of Remote Sensing, 1-17 [10.1080/01431161.2018.1471545]

Clark, J. M., B. A. Schaeffer, J. A. Darling, et al. E. A. Urquhart, J. M. Johnston, A. R. Ignatius, M. H. Myer, K. A. Loftin, P. J. Werdell, and R. P. Stumpf. 2017. "Satellite monitoring of cyanobacterial harmful algal bloom frequency in recreational waters and drinking water sources." Ecological Indicators, 80: 84-95 [10.1016/j.ecolind.2017.04.046]

Urquhart, E. A., B. A. Schaeffer, R. P. Stumpf, K. A. Loftin, and P. J. Werdell. 2017. "A method for examining temporal changes in cyanobacterial harmful algal bloom spatial extent using satellite remote sensing." Harmful Algae, 67: 144-152 [10.1016/j.hal.2017.06.001]

Schaeffer, B. A., S. Greb, C. Binding, and E. A. Urquhart. 2017. "Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment: Needs, Benefits, and Frameworks." Earth Observations in Support of Global Water Quality Monitoring, 17 (IOCCG Report Series): P.O. Box 1006, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, B2Y 4A2, Canada.: ISBN: 978-1-896246-67-3. [Full Text (Link)]

Urquhart, E. A., S. H. Jones, J. W. Yu, et al. B. M. Schuster, A. L. Marcinkiewicz, C. A. Whistler, and V. S. Cooper. 2016. "Environmental Conditions Associated with Elevated Vibrio parahaemolyticus Concentrations in Great Bay Estuary, New Hampshire." PLOS ONE, 11 (5): e0155018 [10.1371/journal.pone.0155018]

Urquhart, E. A., B. F. Zaitchik, S. D. Guikema, et al. B. J. Haley, E. Taviani, A. Chen, M. E. Brown, A. Huq, and R. R. Colwell. 2015. "Use of Environmental Parameters to Model Pathogenic Vibrios in Chesapeake Bay." J ENV INFORM, 26 (1): 1-13 [10.3808/jei.201500307]

Urquhart, E. A., B. F. Zaitchik, D. W. Waugh, S. D. Guikema, and C. E. Del castillo. 2014. "Uncertainty in Model Predictions of Vibrio vulnificus Response to Climate Variability and Change: A Chesapeake Bay Case Study." PLOS ONE, 9 (5): e98256 [10.1371/journal.pone.0098256]

Urquhart, E. A., M. J. Hoffman, R. R. Murphy, and B. F. Zaitchik. 2013. "Geospatial interpolation of MODIS-derived salinity and temperature in the Chesapeake Bay." Remote Sensing of Environment, 135: 167-177 [10.1016/j.rse.2013.03.034]

Urquhart, E. A., B. F. Zaitchik, M. J. Hoffman, S. D. Guikema, and E. F. Geiger. 2012. "Remotely sensed estimates of surface salinity in the Chesapeake Bay: A statistical approach." Remote Sensing of Environment, 123: 522-531 [10.1016/j.rse.2012.04.008]

Non-Refereed

Urquhart, E., and N. Sadoff. 2021. "Partnerships, Co-Production, and Transdisciplinary Science: The 2021 PACE Applications Workshop ." The Earth Observer 33 (6): 14-23.

Jephson, E. U., and J. P. Scott. 2020. "Leveraging Science to Advance Society: The 2020 PACE Applications Workshop ." The Earth Observer 32 (6): 18-26 [Full Text (Link)]