Charles L. Dow
Director of Information Services

Stroud Water Research Center
970 Spencer Road
Avondale, PA 19311
Phone: 610-268-2153, ext. 259
Fax: 610-268-0490
E-mail: cdow@stroudcenter.org

Background/Research Interests

The Information Services group at Stroud is involved with computer services/support (software and hardware, PC/Mac), network administration, and data management/analysis for the entire Center. We use SAS (v 9.1 including SAS/Base, SAS/Stat, and SAS/Graph; SAS Institute, Inc., Cary, NC) as our primary data management and analysis software which involves everything from instrument data capture, data calibration routines for those same instruments, parametric/non-parametric/univariate/multivariate data analyses; and tabular/graphical output. We also provide Geographic Information Services support to the entire Center from GIS data compiling/analysis to producing maps for reports/publications (we are currently using ArcView 9.1 including ArcMap and Spatial Analyst, ESRI, Redlands, CA).

My research interests primarily involve land use/land cover impacts and effects on water quality and quantity. Despite the large volume of research devoted to relating watershed conditions to stream water quality, many uncertainties still remain. One such challenge is in separating geophysical controls (i.e. geology, soils) from human-driven land use/cover influences in terms of explaining stream chemistry. Likewise, incorporating issues of scale (whole watershed vs. riparian area versus reach) and proximity of land use/cover to a stream into a statistical framework for explaining stream chemical and biological patterns is also an important area of ongoing research. Further work is also needed in integrating different means of assessing in-stream water quality to provide a more holistic view of stream ecosystem health; a current focus of the Center's New York watersheds project. The ongoing challenge is to take different methods of assessing water quality and incorporate them into a single picture of stream health; one that highlights both the unique aspects of each measure and also the overlapping aspects between measures, leading to 'multiple lines of evidence' for defining water quality conditions.

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Education

Ph.D., Forest Resources, Pennsylvania State University - 1997
Area of Study: Forest Hydrology; Minor: Statistics
Dissertation: Long-term trends in annual watershed evaporation and Bowen Ratio due to urbanization in the eastern United States

M.S., Environmental Pollution Control, Pennsylvania State University - 1992
Thesis: Sulfur and nitrogen budgets on five forested Appalachian Plateau Basins.

B.S., Chemistry, DeSales University (formerly Allentown College of St. Francis de Sales) - 1988

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2000-2002 - Project Coordinator, Stroud Water Research Center
Project: Water Quality Monitoring in the Source Water Areas for New York City.

1996-2000 - Research Scientist, New Jersey Pinelands Commission, New Lisbon, NJ

1990-1996 - Research Assistant, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
School of Forest Resources - June 1994 to December 1995; June 1996 to August 1996
U.S. EPA Long-Term Monitoring Project - January 1992 to May 1994
Environmental Pollution Control Program - August 1990 to December 1991

1996 - Teaching Assistant, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA School of Forest Resources - January 1996 to May 1996

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Publications

Dow, C.L. 2007. Assessing regional land-use/cover influences on New Jersey Pinelands streamflow through hydrograph analysis. Hydrological Processes 21:185-197. [View PDF of article; 406 KB]

Arscott, D. B., C. L. Dow, and B. W. Sweeney. 2006. Landscape template of New York City's drinking-water-supply watersheds. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 25:867-886. [View PDF of article; 1.1MB]

Dow, C. L., D. B. Arscott, and J. D. Newbold. 2006. Relating major ions and nutrients to watershed conditions across a mixed-use, water-supply watershed. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 25:887-911. [View PDF of article; 638KB]

Kaplan, L. A., J. D. Newbold, D. J. Van Horn, C. L. Dow, A. K. Aufdenkampe, and J. K. Jackson. 2006. Organic matter transport in New York City drinking-water-supply watersheds. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 25:912-927. [View PDF of article; 334KB]

Aufdenkampe, A. K., D. B. Arscott, C. L. Dow, and L. J. Standley. 2006. Molecular tracers of soot and sewage contamination in streams supplying New York City drinking water. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 25:928-953. [View PDF of article; 457KB]

Kratzer, E. B., J. K. Jackson, D. B. Arscott, A. K. Aufdenkampe, C. L. Dow, L. A. Kaplan, J. D. Newbold, and B. W. Sweeney. 2006. Macroinvertebrate distribution in relation to land use and water chemistry in New York City drinking-water-supply watersheds. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 25:954-976. [View PDF of article; 279KB]

Newbold, J. D., T. L. Bott, L. A. Kaplan, C. L. Dow, L. A. Martin, D. J. Van Horn, and A. A. de Long. 2006. Uptake of nutrients and organic C in streams in New York City drinking-water-supply watersheds. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 25:998-1017. [View PDF of article; 237KB]

Bott, T. L., D. S. Mongomery, J. D. Newbold, D. B. Arscott, C. L. Dow, A. K. Aufdenkampe, J. K. Jackson, and L. A. Kaplan. 2006. Ecosystem metabolism in streams of the Catskill Mountains (Delaware and Hudson River watersheds) and Lower Hudson Valley. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 25:1018-1044. [View PDF of article; 449KB]

Bott, T. L., D. S. Montgomery, D. B. Arscott, and C. L. Dow. 2006. Primary productivity in receiving reservoirs: links to influent streams. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 25:1045-1061. [View PDF of article; 690KB]

Sweeney, B. W., D. B. Arscott, C. L. Dow, J. G. Blaine, A. K. Aufdenkampe, T. L. Bott, J. K. Jackson, L. A. Kaplan, and J. D. Newbold. 2006. Enhanced source-water monitoring for New York City: summary and perspective. Journal  of the North American Benthological Society 25:1062-1067. [View PDF of article; 68KB]

Zampella, R. A., C. L. Dow, and J. F. Bunnell. 2001. Using reference sites and simple linear regression to estimate long-term water levels in Coastal Plain forests. J. of the American Water Resources Association. 37:1189-1201. [View PDF of article; 986 KB]

 Dow, C.L. and D.R. DeWalle. 2000.  Trends in evaporation and Bowen Ratio on urbanizing watersheds in eastern United States.  Water Resources Research.  36(7):1835-1843. [View PDF of article; 114KB]

 Dow, C.L. and R.A. Zampella. 2000.  Specific conductance and pH as watershed disturbance indicators in streams of the New Jersey Pinelands, U.S.A.  Environmental Management. 26(4):437-445. [View PDF of article; 659KB]

 Dow, C.L. 1999.  Detecting baseflow trends in Coastal Plain streams.  J. of the American Water Resources Association. 35(2):349-362. [View PDF of article; 1.2MB]

 Dow, C.L. and D.R. DeWalle. 1997.  Sulfur and nitrogen budgets for five forested Appalachian Plateau Basins.  Hydrological Processes. 11:801-816. [View PDF of article; 364KB]

 Dow, C.L., D.R. DeWalle, J.A. Lynch, and W.E. Sharpe. 1994.  Blizzard’s effects on Appalachian stream chemistry assessed.  EOS  75(34):389.

 DeWalle, D.R., B.R. Swistock, C.L. Dow, W.E. Sharpe, and R.F. Carline. 1993.  Episodic Response Project-Northern Appalachian Plateau:  Site Description and Methodology.  Report to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  EPA 600/R-93/023. NTIS PB93-149755. 55p.

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