Martin A. Briggs

Research Hydrologist

Department of Natural Resources & the Environment

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At the USGS Hydrologic Remote Sensing Branch (HRSB) Marty works on a wide range of pressing hydrological issues across climates and hydrogeological terrain. As a national office, one of HRSB’s primary functions is to support regional USGS Water Science Centers through providing hydrogeophysical tools, training, and collaboration on novel water research. As central missions at the Branch are training and methods development, Marty often travels to provide workshops, participate in outreach events, and to field-test new methods that are then utilized for research applications. Although his specialty is in surface water/groundwater exchange processes, Marty works on a wide range of pressing national hydrological issues where geophysical and remotely sensed data lend insight. Marty also contributes to several Water Mission Area Programs including the Next Generation Water Observing System and co-advises graduate students at the University of Connecticut through a Cooperative Agreement, leveraging reimbursable projects. Marty asks that you please reach out if you are interested in discussing objectives, methods, and/or research related to his work.

Titles:

Research Scientist

Expertise:

• groundwater
• hydrodynamics
• groundwater flow
• hydrology
• percolation
• saltwater intrusion
• streamflow
• hydrogeophysics
• hydrogeology

Professional Experience:

• Development of new heat tracing methodology and refinement of existing methods for location and quantifying groundwater/surface water exchanges over a range of scales including the development of several software tools to improve accessibility to such methods. These tools include: VFLUX2, DTS-GUI, 1DTempPro2, GW-SW MST
• Extensive characterization of groundwater preferential groundwater discharge zones and related physical processes across a range of headwater and mainstem river settings nationally
• Repeat expeditions to Alaska as field team leader to characterize discontinuous permafrost dynamics using seismic, electrical, radar, thermal and mechanical methods coupled with processed-based models
• Measuring and modeling dual-domain mass transfer of contaminated groundwater and natural anoxic microzones involving the novel use of combined electrical and chemical methods
• Installation of sea water intrusion monitoring network on a remote Pacific atoll to monitor the effects of climate change and sea level rise on atoll fresh water and identify controlling geologic processes that were tested in a numerical modeling framework
• Innovative characterization of endangered shellfish and native brook trout habitat in a variety of systems, particularly in the context of groundwater discharge to surface water

Education:

• PhD, 2012. Syracuse University, (Hydro) Geology
• MS, 2009. Colorado School of Mines. Hydrology

Honors and Awards:

• 2022 American Geophysical Union Edward A. Flinn III Award (group award)
• 2017 Geologic Society of America Hydrogeology Division Kohout Early Career Award
• Exceptional rating, USGS performance review 2013, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 21
• Syracuse University College of Arts and Sciences Doctoral Dissertation Prize, 2012

Science and Products:

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