Dan Obenour

Assistant Professor

Dr. Dan Obenour is interested in the development of probabilistic models that improve our ability to understand and manage complex environmental systems. His primary focus is on water quality dynamics in streams, lakes, and coastal areas. He uses mechanistic and empirical modeling approaches for assessing the severity and causes of environmental impairments, particularly those related to surface water quality.

Dr. Obenour has an extensive background in water quality and watershed modeling.  At the University of Texas, Dan developed GIS approaches for creating, managing, and visualizing hydrologic and hydraulic modeling information.  As a consulting engineer, he developed watershed and water quality models to address environmental impairments in streams and reservoirs.  As a PhD student,Dr. Obenour developed probabilistic modeling approaches for assessing how natural and anthropogenic stressors affect water quality in lakes and coastal areas.  Prior to joining the NC State faculty, he was a lecturer and post-doctoral fellow, conducting research at the University of Michigan Water Center and the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. This ongoing work aims to improve our ability to forecast harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie, in response to nutrient loading and climate variability.  He looks forward to expanding his research to address environmental issues in North Carolina in the coming years.

Education

Ph.D.

Natural Resources/Environmental Engineering

University of Michigan

M.S.

Environmental and Water Resources Engineering

The University of Texas at Austin

B.S.

Civil Engineering

University of Akron

Research Description

A common theme of Dr. Obenour's research is to provide rigorous uncertainty quantification, so that policy makers and the public can be presented with the ranges of likely outcomes associated with different future scenarios, allowing for more informed decision-making.  Uncertainty quantification is also useful to the scientific community, as it provides an honest assessment of our level of system understanding, and it often suggests where additional research or data collection would be most beneficial.  Dr. Obenour's research also aims to reduce model uncertainty by more effectively leveraging available information, such as field monitoring data, satellite imagery, and the results of previous experiments and related biophysical modeling studies.  This auxiliary information is incorporated through various methods, such as the geostatistical fusion of multiple spatial data layers, and the specification of prior probabilities and multiple calibration endpoints using Bayesian statistics.

Publications

Assessing potential anthropogenic drivers of ecological health in Piedmont streams through hierarchical modeling
Miller, J. W., Paul, M. J., & Obenour, D. R. (2019), FRESHWATER SCIENCE, 38(4), 771–789. https://doi.org/10.1086/705963
Hypoxic volume is more responsive than hypoxic area to nutrient load reductions in the northern Gulf of Mexico-and it matters to fish and fisheries
Scavia, D., Justic, D., Obenour, D. R., Craig, J. K., & Wang, L. (2019), ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS, 14(2). https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aaf938
Hierarchical modeling assessment of the influence of watershed stressors on fish and invertebrate species in Gulf of Mexico estuaries
Miller, J., Esselman, P. C., Alameddine, I., Blackhart, K., & Obenour, D. R. (2018), Ecological Indicators, 90, 142–153.
Leveraging Spatial and Temporal Variability to Probabilistically Characterize Nutrient Sources and Export Rates in a Developing Watershed
Strickling, H. L., & Obenour, D. R. (2018), Water Resources Research, 54(7), 5143–5162. https://doi.org/10.1029/2017WR022220
Relating soil geochemical properties to arsenic bioaccessibility through hierarchical modeling
Nelson, C. M., Li, K., Obenour, D. R., Miller, J., Misenheimer, J. C., Scheckel, K., … Bradham, K. D. (2018), Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part A, 81(6), 160–172.
Space-Time Geostatistical Assessment of Hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico
Matli, V. R. R., Fang, S., Guinness, J., Rabalais, N. N., Craig, J. K., & Obenour, D. R. (2018), Environmental Science & Technology, 10(21), 12484–12493. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.8b03474
Ensemble modeling informs hypoxia management in the northern Gulf of Mexico
Scavia, D., Bertani, I., Obenour, D. R., Turner, R. E., Forrest, D. R., & Katin, A. (2017), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(33), 201705293. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1705293114
Relationship Between Total and Bioaccessible Lead on Children�s Blood Lead Levels in Urban Residential Philadelphia Soils
Bradham, K. D., Nelson, C. M., Kelly, J., Pomales, A., Scruton, K., Dignam, T., … Thomas, D. J. (2017), Environmental Science & Technology, 51(17), 10005–10011. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.7b02058
Tracking cyanobacteria blooms: Do different monitoring approaches tell the same story?
Bertani, I., Steger, C. E., Obenour, D. R., Fahnenstiel, G. L., Bridgeman, T. B., Johengen, T. H., … Scavia, D. (2017), Science of the Total Environment, 575, 294–308. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.10.023
Non-point source evaluation of groundwater contamination from agriculture under geologic and hydrologic uncertainty
Ayub, R., Obenour, D. R., Messier, K. P., Serre, M. L., & Mahinthakumar, K. (2016), In World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2016: Environmental, Sustainability, Groundwater, Hydraulic Fracturing, and Water Distribution Systems analysis (pp. 329–336). https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784479865.035

View all publications via NC State Libraries