Western Ecological Research Center

Steven E Schwarzbach

Center Director

USGS WERC Headquarters
3020 State University Drive East
Modoc Hall, Room 3006
Sacramento, CA 95819
Phone: (916) 278-9490
Fax: (916) 278-9475
Email: steven_schwarzbach@usgs.gov

Steven Schwarzbach is currently the Center Director for the USGS, Biological Resources Discipline, Western Ecological Research Center in Sacramento California. He supervises research scientists involved in research on a variety of topics including contaminants, fire, invasive species, avian ecology, global climate change, wetland restoration and amphibian declines. Prior to his current position with the USGS he worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for nearly14 years serving for six years as the chief of the Environmental Contaminants Division in the Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office. While in the Fish and Wildlife Service he worked on linking science to Service policy on numerous environmental contaminant issues affecting Department of Interior trust resources. He also has conducted numerous field studies of contamination impacts to fish and wildlife and their habitats, working on mercury, selenium, petroleum spills, hazardous waste, agricultural drainwater, pesticides, acid mine drainage, and halogenated compounds of many origins. He has also worked as a seasonal ranger with the National Park Service, built trails for the U.S. Forest Service and has experience as an elementary school teacher.


RESEARCH INTERESTS Contaminants Ornithology
EDUCATION B.A., Environmental Biology / Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara 1976 M.A., Education, San Francisco State University 1983 M.S., Ecology, University of California, Davis 1986 Ph.D., Ecology, University of California, Davis 1989
PROFESSIONAL AND HONORARY SOCIETIES AND SCIENCE ADVISORY COMMITTEES American Association for the Advancement of Science American Ornithologists Union Association of Field Ornithologists Cooper Ornithological Society Raptor Research Foundation Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Wilson Ornithological Society

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Scientist, US Fish and Wildlife Service, 1988 to 1996
Chief, Environmental Contaminants Division, US Fish and Wildlife Service, 1996 to 2002
Research Manager, USGS, BRD, Western Ecological Research Center, 2002 to 2005
Center Director, USGS, BRD, Western Ecological Research Center, 2005 to Present

PRODUCTS

Presser, Theresa S. and S. E. Schwarzbach. 2008. Technical Analysis of In-Valley Drainage Management Strategies for the Western San Joaquin Valley, California. Open-File Report 2008-1210 version 1.0. 44pp.[Other]

She, J., et al., Concentrations and time trends of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in aquatic bird eggs from San Francisco Bay, CA 2000-2003, Chemosphere (2008), doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2007.04.092[Journal Article]

Ackerman, JT, CA Eagles-Smith, GH Heinz, SE Wainwright-De La Cruz, JY Takekawa, TL Adelsbach, AK Miles, DJ Hoffman, SE Schwarzbach, TH Suchanek, and TC Maurer. 2007. Mercury in birds of the San Francisco Bay-Delta: trophic pathways, bioaccumulation, and ecotoxicological risk to avian reproduction. 2006 Annual Administrative Report, U. S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center, Davis, CA, and U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Environmental Contaminants Division, Sacramento, CA, 44 pp.[Technical Report]

Ackerman, JT, CA Eagles-Smith, JY Takekawa, SA Demers, TL Adelsbach, JD Bluso, AK Miles, N Warnock, TH Suchanek, and SE Schwarzbach. 2007. Mercury concentrations and space use of pre-breeding American avocets and black-necked stilts in San Francisco Bay. Science of the Total Environment 384: 452-466.[Journal Article]

Myers, M.D., M.A. Ayers, J.S. Baron, P.R. Beauchemin, K.T. Gallagher, M.B. Goldhaber, D.R. Hutchinson, J.W. LaBaugh, R.G. Sayre, S.E. Schwarzbach, E.S. Schweig, J. Thormodsgard, C van Riper III and W. Wilde. 2007. Facing Tomorrow's Challenges - U.S. Geological Survey Science in the Decade 2007-2017. U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1309, x + 70 p.[Other]

Myers, M.D., M.A. Ayers, J.S. Baron, P.R. Beauchemin, K.T. Gallagher, M.B. Goldhaber, D.R. Hutchinson, J.W. LaBaugh, R.G. Sayre, S.E. Schwarzbach, E.S. Schweig, J. Thormodsgard, C van Riper III and W. Wilde. 2007. USGS Goals for the Coming Decade. Science 318:200-201.[Journal Article]

Adelsbach, TL, CA Eagles-Smith, JT Ackerman, and SE Schwarzbach. 2006. Terns as indicators of mercury and other priority pollutant exposure in San Francisco Bay. Eighth International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant, Madison, Wisconsin, August 6-11.[Poster with Abstract]

Schwarzbach, S. E., California Clapper Rail Reproductive Success (March 2006)[Publication Brief]

Schwarzbach, SE, JT Ackerman, CA Eagles-Smith, JY Takekawa, AK Miles, SE Wainwright-De La Cruz, TL Adelsbach, and TH Suchanek. 2006. Mercury legacy to aquatic birds in the San Francisco Estuary: declines from 19th century levels remain insufficient to eliminate mercury risks to some bird species. Eighth International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant, Madison, Wisconsin, August 6-11. (talk)[Presentation with Abstract]

Schwarzbach, Steven E., Joy D. Albertson, Carmen M. Thomas. 2006. Effects of predation, flooding, and contamination on reproductive success of California Clapper Rails (Rallus longirostris obsoletus) in San Francisco Bay. Auk 123:45-60.[Journal Article]

Takekawa, JY, JT Ackerman, CA Eagles-Smith, S Wainwright-De La Cruz, TL Adelsbach, AK Miles, G Heinz, D Hoffman, S Schwarzbach, T Suchanek, T Maurer, C Strong, and N Warnock. 2006. Mercury in birds of the San Francisco Bay-Delta: trophic pathways, bioaccumulation and ecotoxicological risk to avian reproduction. South Bay Science Symposium, San Jose State University, California, June 6.[Presentation]

Wainwright-De La Cruz, SE, CA Eagles-Smith, TL Adelsbach, JT Ackerman, GH Heinz, SE Schwarzbach, TH Suchanek, JY Takekawa, AK Miles, DJ Hoffman, and TC Maurer. 2006. Mercury in birds of the San Francisco Bay-Delta: trophic pathways, bioaccumulation and ecotoxicological risk to avian reproduction. San Francisco Estuary Institute Third Annual San Francisco Bay Mercury Coordination Meeting, Oakland, California, February 22. (talk)[Presentation]

Eagles-Smith, CA, TL Adelsbach, JT Ackerman, SE Schwarzbach, TH Suchanek, GH Heinz, JY Takekawa, AK Miles, SE Wainwright-De La Cruz, JD Henderson, SE Spring, L Bowen, JD Bluso, SA Demers, M Ricca, C Marn, C Strong, N Warnock, M Wilson, and T Maurer. 2005. Mercury in birds of the San Francisco Bay-Delta: trophic pathways, bioaccumulation and ecotoxicological risk to avian reproduction. The 7th Biennial State of the Estuary Conference, Oakland, California, October 4-6.[Poster with Abstract]

Johnson, Catherine S., Steven E. Schwarzbach, John D. Henderson, Barry W. Wilson, Ronald S. Tjeerdema. 2005. Influence of Water Temperature on Acetylcholinesterase Activity in the Pacific Tree Frog (Hyla Regilla). Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. Volume 24. Number 8. pp 2074-2077[Journal Article]

Johnson, Catherine S., Steven E. Schwarzbach, John D. Henderson, Barry W. Wilson, Ronald S. Tjeerdema. 2005. Influence of water temperature on acetylcholinesterase activity in the Pacific Tree Frog (Hyla regilla). Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 24:2074-2077.[Journal Article]

Schwarzbach, SE, TH Suchanek, GH Heinz, JT Ackerman, CA Eagles-Smith, TL Adelsbach, JY Takekawa, AK Miles, DJ Hoffman, SE Wainwright-De La Cruz, SE Spring, MA Ricca, and TC Maurer. 2005. Mercury in birds of the San Francisco Bay-Delta: trophic pathways, bioaccumulation and ecotoxicological risk to avian reproduction. 2005 Annual Report, U. S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center, and U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office, 17pp.[Technical Report]

Schwarzbach, SE, TH Suchanek, GH Heinz, JT Ackerman, CA Eagles-Smith, TL Adelsbach, JY Takekawa, AK Miles, DJ Hoffman, SE Wainwright-De La Cruz, SE Spring, MA Ricca, and TC Maurer. 2005. Mercury in birds of the San Francisco Bay-Delta: trophic pathways, bioaccumulation and ecotoxicological risk to avian reproduction. CALFED review panel and California Bay-Delta Authority, Sacramento, California, November 29-December 1.[Presentation]

Schwarzbach, Steven E., Mark Stephenson, Tamiko Ruhlen, Sue Abbott, Gary W. Page, Dawn Adams. 2005. Elevated mercury concentrations in failed eggs of the Snowy Plovers at Point Reyes National Seashore. Baseline 50:1444-1447.[Journal Article]

Schwarzbach, Steven E., John D. Henderson, Carmen M. Thomas, Joy D. Albertson. 2001. Organochlorine concentrations and eggshell thickness in failed eggs of the California Clapper Rail from South San Francisco Bay. Condor 103:620-624.[Journal Article]

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