Kathi Jo Jankowski

Kathi Jo is a Research Ecologist with the US Geological Survey. She is the Principal Investigator for the Water Quality Component of the Long Term Resource Monitoring Program (LTRM) element of the Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program, which has been monitoring the habitat and organisms of Upper Mississippi River for over thirty years. Kathi Jo oversees the collection, quality assurance, analysis, and synthesis of water quality data in partnership with 4 federal agencies and 5 Midwestern state natural resource agencies. She is focused on doing research and providing information that facilitates better management and conservation of freshwater habitats in the Upper Mississippi River basin. She has diverse research experience in aquatic ecosystems from boreal to tropical regions and is broadly interested in understanding how fundamental ecosystem processes like nutrient cycling and productivity respond to and recover from ongoing anthropogenic changes.  She also enjoys learning about ecosystems while paddling, biking, skiing and exploring the hills and rivers of La Crosse and the beautiful Driftless Region.