Johnnie N. Moore

Interests 

Environmental Geochemistry- Sedimentology and Human Impacts on River Systems and River Flow

Synopsis

My present research agenda is somewhat wide ranging: contaminant geochemistry of rivers and lakes; river channel geomorphology; river restoration; Holocene climate change; hydrologic response to human forcing of water use, land use and climate change. 

Over the last 20 years, most of my students have worked in metals contamination of rivers and associated floodplain and groundwater systems.  These are dominantly field-based studies with some associated laboratory experiments to elucidate detailed metal-sediment relationships which have resulted in a number of journal publications and theses. I have a couple of students still working on these topics. My student's geomorphology work is much more recent and has concentrated on determining river channel changes through time and modeling those changes into the future to better understand the erosion and transport of metal-contaminated floodplain soils. It has resulted in several reports and two very comprehensive M.S. theses and one M.S. thesis in progress. 

The effects of human actions on rivers and restoring impacted rivers to more natural processes has been a teaching and management interest of mine for the last few years. I worked for two years in California as the Lead Scientist for the CALFED Science Program (science.calwater.ca.gov/) which oversees the science of ecosystem and river restoration in the Central Valleyriver and delta systems. I also teach a "river seminar" that concentrates on principles of restoration and have been involved in several professional workshops to better define/organize river restoration approaches.  I also set on scientiifc panels reviewing and advising on large scale river restoration and water managment efforts in California.

Most recently, my research is concentrating on changes and controls in runoff in the Rocky Mountains of Montana (headwaters of the Columbia and Missouri rivers). This work is mainly with Joel Harper of our department, but Mark Greenwood at Montana State University (statistician) is also a collaborator. Check out our paper in Geophysical Research Letters: http://www.agu.org/journals/gl/gl0716/2007GL031022/. We expect one more year of funding from the National Science Foundation for this research to mostly work on historical, recent and remote sensing data to analyze the controls on runoff by snowmelt in response to regional temperature changes and local-regional human impacts. We have six students and one full-time staff scientist working on this research. 

I presently teach courses in Environmental Geology and Global Change (Junior), and Environmental Geochemistry (Senior and Graduate), and River Restoration (Graduate). Much of my teaching is field/lab oriented revolving around direct student involvement in examining and solving local/regional/global environmental problems. 

Education

Ph.D. in Geology, 1976, University of California, Los Angeles

M.S. in Geology, 1973, University of California, Los Angeles

B.S. in Geology, 1970, California State University, Northridge

 

Experience/Employment

September 2007-present: Director ot fhte Center for Riverine Science and Stream Renauralization.

July 2004-June 2006: Lead Scientist of the California Bay-Delta Authority Science Program, Sacramento, CA

September 1987-present:  Professor of Geoscience, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana

September 1988 to June 1989:  Visiting Research Scientist at the US Geological Survey, Water Resource Division,

National Research Program, Menlo Park, California 94025; Professor of Geology (sabbatical leave), University of Montana, Missoula, Montana

September 1980 to September 1987:  Associate Professor of Geology, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana

September  1977 to September 1980:  Assistant Professor of Geology, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana

September 1976 to June 1977:  Lecturer, Fresno State University, Fresno, California

Research

Human-induced changes in snow-melt runoff within the context of natural hydrologic variability

River processes and restoration

Geochemical response of restoration of contaminated rivers

Metal and metalloid contamination in aquatic systems resulting from human actions

Basin-scale processes controlling metal contamination in sediment and surface water

Natural variation of Holocene hydrologic change

Graduate Teaching Experience

Human Impacts on Rivers and River Restoration

Advanced Environmental Geochemistry

Metals Contaminant Geochemistry 

Climate Change and Mountain Hydrology

Sediment and contaminant transport

Undergraduate Teaching Experience

Environmental Geology 

Global Change 

Environmental Geochemistry

Introductory Geology

Some Recent Publications

Greenwood, M., Harper, J. and Moore, J., 2007, Functional linear models for streamflow discharge, 2007 Proceedings of the American Statistical Association, Section on Statistics and the Environment, Alexandria, VA: American Statistical Association: 2384-2390.

Moore, J.N., J.T. Harper and M.C. Greenwood, 2007, Significance of trends toward earlier snowmelt runoff, Columbia and Missouri Basin headwaters, western United States. Geophysical research Letter, v. 34, doi:10.1029/2007GL031022. 

Hofmann, M.H., M.S. Hendrix, J.N. Moore and M. Sperazza, 2006, Late Pleistocene and Holocene depositional history of sediments in Flathead Lake, Montana: Evidence from high-resolution seismic reflection interpretation. Sedimentary Geology, vol. 184, Issues 1-2, p. 111-131.

Hofmann, M.H., M.S. Hendrix, M. Sperazza and J.N. Moore, 2006, Neotectonic evolution and fault geometry change along a major extensional fault system in the Mission and Flathead Valleys, NW-Montana, Journal of Structural Geology, vol. 28, no. 7, p. 1244-1260.

Hochella, M.F. Jr.; Moore, J.N.; Putnis, C.V.; Putnis, A.; Kasama, T.; Eberl, D.D., 2005, Direct observation of heavy metal-mineral association from the Clark Fork River Superfund Complex: Implications for metal transport and bioavailability. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, vol. 69, Issue 7, p. 1651-1663.

Hochella, M.F., Jr.; Kasam, T.; Putnis, A.; Putnis, C.V. and Moore, J.N., 2005, Environmentally important, poorly crystalline Fe/Mn hydrous oxides: Ferrihydrite and a possibly new vernadite-like mineral from the Clark Fork River Superfund Complex. American Mineralogist, vol. 90, p. 718–724. DOI: 10.2138/am.2005.1591 718.

Ramsey, P.W., M. C. Rillig, K. P. Feris, N. S. Gordon, J. N. Moore, W. E. Holben, J. E. Gannon, 2005, Relationship between communities and processes; new insights from a field study of a contaminated ecosystem, Ecology Letters 8 (11), 1201–1210. doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2005.00821.x

Ramsey, P.W., M.C. Rillig, K.P. Feris, J.N. Moore and J.E. Gannon, 2005, Mine waste contamination limits soil respiration rates: a case study using quantile regression, Soil Biology & Biochemistry, Vol. 37, p. 1177-1183.

Feris, K. P., P. W. Ramsey, M. Rillig, J.N. Moore, J. E. Gannon, and W.E. Holben, 2004, Hyporheic microbial communities: Determining rates of change and evaluating group-level resiliency differences in response to fluvial heavy metal deposition. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, August 2004, p. 4756-4765, Vol. 70, No. 8. DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.8.4756-4765.2004.

Feris, K.P., P. W. Ramsey, C. Frazar, M. Rillig, J. N. Moore, J. E. Gannon, and W. E. Holben, 2004, Seasonal Dynamics of Shallow-Hyporheic-Zone Microbial Community Structure along a Heavy-Metal Contamination Gradient, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, April 2004, p. 2323-2331, Vol. 70, No. 4, DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.4.2323-2331.2004.

Sperazza, M, Moore, J.N. and M.S. Hendrix, 2004, High-resolution particle size analysis of naturally occurring very fine-gained sediment through laser diffractometry. Journal of Sedimentary Research, vol. 74, no. 5, p. 736–743.

Feris, K. P., P. W. Ramsey, C. F. Frazar, J.N. Moore, J. E. Gannon, and W.E. Holben, 2003, Structure and seasonal dynamics of hyporheic zone microbial communities in free-stone rivers of the Western United States. Microbial Ecology, DOI: 10.1007/s00248-002-0100-x.

Nagorski, S. A. , J.N. Moore, and T.E. McKinnon, 2003, Seasonal and storm-scale variations in heavy metal concentrations of two mining-contaminated streams, Montana, USA. Journal de Physique IV, Journal de Physique IV, vol. 107, p. 909-911, C. Boutron and C. Ferrari, Eds.

Feris, K. P., P. W. Ramsey, C. F. Frazar, J.N. Moore, J. E. Gannon, and W.E. Holben, 2003, Differences in hyporheic zone microbial community structure along a heavy metal gradient. Appl. Environ. Microbio, vol. 69, p. 5563-5573.

Nagorski, S. A., J.N. Moore, T.E. McKinnon and D.B. Smith, 2003, Scale-dependent temporal variations in stream water geochemistry: Environmental Science and Technology, 37(5): 859-864.

Nagorski, S. A. , J.N. Moore, T.E. McKinnon and D.B. Smith, 2003, Geochemical response to variable streamflow conditions in contaminated and uncontaminated streams: Water Resources Research, 39(2): 1044-1058.

Moore, J.N., and W.W. Woessner, 2003, Arsenic Contamination in the Water Supply of Milltown, Montana, in Welch, A.H., and Stollenwerk, K.G., eds., Arsenic in Ground Water: Geochemistry and Occurrence: Norwell, Massachusetts, Kluwer Academic Publishers, p. 329-350.

Participation in Scientific Panels

Chair of the Delta Risk Management Strategy Independent Review Panel, CALFED Science Program, Sacramento, CA (http://science.calwater.ca.gov/sci_tools/drms_irp.shtml). This panel is reviewing the scientific merit of a $10 million report assessing the risk potential in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta for the next two centuries. The panel includes 12 national and international experts in a wide range of fields.

Member of the Delta Vision Assessment Team for the CALFED Science Program. The Assessment Team is composed of 10 scientists, engineers, political scientists and social scientists and is evaluating the scientific and technical merit specific statements/visions by agencies and organizations, for the Delta Vision process (http://deltavision.ca.gov/). The Delta Vision process will determine the path for future management and restoration the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and associated water distribution system for the next several generations. 

Invited expert on the external review panel to Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) for water use sustainability. Advising MWD on the problems facing the 20 million people in Southern California and the future of water supplies under potential climate change, population growth and land use change, 2007-2008.

Recent Grants and Contracts

Linking Time and Space of Snowmelt Runoff: Crown of the Continent Hydrologic Observatory, 2006-2008, $300,000 funded by CUAHSI via NSFand NSF. With Joel Harper, Geosciences.

Interagency Burned Areas Stabilization and Rehabilitation Plan for French Fire, Cooperative agreement, NPS-CESU, 2006-2007, $262,025. UM# M65437.

Awards

University of Montana Distinguished Scholar for 1995.

University of Montana Merit Awards in 1983, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1997, 1999 and 2001.

Some Stuff from my old life as a Stratigrapher

Fritz, W.J. and Moore, J.N., 1988, Basics of Physical Stratigraphy and Sedimentology, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., N.Y. (and Japanese Translation, 1999).

Fritz, W.J. and Moore, J.N., 1988, Exercises in Physical Stratigraphy and Sedimentology, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., N.Y.

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