Anne Jefferson

Anne Jarvis Jefferson is a hydrologist, professor, and environmental advocate. She currently works as an associate professor at Kent State University in the Department of Geology and runs a Watershed Hydrology Lab. Jefferson is notable for her work in urban landscapes and stormwater management, watershed hydrology of streams, rivers and groundwater, green infrastructure, land cover change, water resources and climate change impact. She is also an avid supporter of women in science and has completed multiple citizen outreach programs.

Early life

Born 1979, Anne Jefferson grew up in Winona, Minnesota. Ever since she was young, Jefferson has been interested in landslides, snow melt runoff channels and river and ground runoff. In May 1997, Jefferson won the top prize titled, the Glenn T. Seaborg Nobel Trip Award at the 48th annual International Science and Engineering Fair. Her project was titled "Pool 6 – Mississippi River Sediment Budget: Movement and Storage," which examined at the activity of sediment in the Upper Mississippi River.

Education

Upon graduating from Winona Senior Highschool, Jefferson went on to earn her B.A. in Earth and Planetary Science from Johns Hopkins University (advisor: Hope Jahren) with university and departmental honors. She then earned an M.S. in Water Resource Science from the University of Minnesota in 2002 (advisor: Patrick Brezonik), and four years later completed her Ph.D. in geology from Oregon State University in 2006 and wrote her dissertation on the “Hydrology and Geomorphic Evolution of Basaltic Landscapes, High Cascades, Oregon” (advisor: Gordon Grant).

Career

Since 2016, Jefferson has worked as an associate professor and graduate studies coordinator in the Department of Geology at Kent State University, Kent, Ohio. In the past she worked as an assistant professor in the department of Geography and Earth Science at the University of North Carolina, in Charlotte, North Carolina, was a Post-doctoral Research Associate at Oregon State University, a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow at Oregon State University and an Editorial and Teaching Assistant at the Water Resources Center and Water Resources Science program at the University of Minnesota.

Research

Jefferson's lab focuses on watershed hydrology, urban hydrology and hydroecology, groundwater-surface water interactions, climate change and resources and landscape evolution in human-effected and volcanic landscapes. Current projects in her lab focus on green infrastructure and stormwater management and how stream restoration effects water flow and stream quality in urban landscapes. Funding for her projects have been supported by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Geological Survey.

Memberships

Jefferson is a member of the American Geophysical Union, the Geological Society of America, the Earth Science Women's Network, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and is a working group member of the “Evolving Urban-Water Systems,” for the in International Association for Hydrological Sciences, Panta Rhei Scientific Decade, 2013–2022.

Jefferson has conducted a wide range of research from volcanic landscapes in the Oregon Cascades to stormwater management and effects of urbanization on watershed hydrology. Throughout her academic and professional career she has authored and co-authored many papers.

Women in science

Growing up with a mother who was a plant ecologist had received her PhD in 1979, she understands the importance of women in science. When she was just 18, Jefferson participated in the 25th Anniversary of Title IX event at The White House on July 18, 1997. Since then, Jefferson has been an advocate for women in science.

Civic science and public engagement

Additionally, Jefferson is an avid Twitter user and science blogger and works to make science information public so that the general public can understand. Examples of this was her chairing the Fourth Annual Kent State University Water and Land symposium in October 2016 where she facilitated a broader conversation on stormwater and climate change. Additionally, Jefferson has conducted multiple citizen science projects with collaborators, such as Cleveland Metroparks and Cuyahoga Valley National Park, to engage locals communities and has worked on ways in which educational institutions and scientists can engage the public.