Isotope Tracers in Catchment Hydrology

Carol Kendall is a research hydrologist in the Water Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey. Since 1990, she has been chief of the "Isotope Tracers of Hydrologic and Biogeochemical Processes" project in Menlo Park, California. The purpose of this research project is to develop new methods, concepts, and applications of environmental isotopes to solve problems of national importance. She received her B.S. and M.S. in Geology from the University of California (Riverside), and her Ph.D. in Geology from the University of Maryland. Her main background is in isotope hydrology and aqueous geochemistry. Kendall is coordinator and main instructor of the 5-day Isotope Hydrology training course taught almost yearly for the USGS, and frequently teaches other short-courses. The main focus of isotopic heterogeneity in shallow systems on determining recharge mechanisms, tracing sources and reactions of nitrate in surface waters and groundwaters using oxygen and nitrogen isotopes, and applying a multi-isotope (O,H,C,N,S,Sr) approach to studying watershed hydrology and biochemistry. She has recently become fascinated with "isotope biomonitoring" --the idea of using isotopes of organisms as integrators of environmental conditions at the landscape-scale, including providing information about sources of nutrients in human-impacted environments.

Jeffrey J. McDonnell is Professor of Hydrology at the State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry. He received his B.Sc. from the University of Toronto, M.Sc. from Trent University, and Ph.D. from the University of Canterbury. His background is in physical hydrology and geomorphology. His particular interests relate to the age, origin and pathway of subsurface stormflow and runoff processes in catchments. While working as an Assistant Professor at Utah State University, McDonnell began a working relationship with Kendall that continued for several years -- one that exploits their very different backgrounds and perspectives on catchment hydrology. McDonnell has been a Research Fellow at NASA, the Japanese Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute and Landcare New Zealand. He has received the Gordon Warwick Award from the British Geomorphological Research Group, the Horton Research Grant from the American Geophysical Union, Warren Nystrom Award from the Association of American Geographers, and the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship from Canada. Prof. McDonnell was and Associate Editor for Water Resources Research (1996-1998) and is now an Associate Editor for Journal of Hydrology and Editorial Board member of the journals Hydrological Processes and Progress in Environmental Science. He has published about 50 papers of catchment hydrology.