Jonathan Duncan

Jonathan M. Duncan is an Associate Professor of Hydrology in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management at Pennsylvania State University. He specializes in watershed ecohydrology and biogeochemistry within the broader field of Geoscience. Duncan earned a B.S. in Biology with minors in Environmental Science and Geography from the State University of New York at Geneseo in 2000, an M.S. in Environmental Resource Engineering from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry in 2004, an M.P.A. in Public Administration from Syracuse University's Maxwell School in 2004, and a Ph.D. in Hydrology and Biogeochemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2014. Before joining Penn State as an Assistant Professor of Hydrology in 2017, he served as Research Assistant Professor and Postdoctoral Research Associate at UNC Chapel Hill's Institute for the Environment, Research Assistant in UNC's Department of Geography, and Project Manager at the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. (CUAHSI). He was promoted to Associate Professor effective July 1, 2023, and directs the Pennsylvania Water Resources Research Center. Duncan is affiliated with Penn State's Institute of Energy and the Environment.

Duncan's research investigates interactions among water, ecology, geomorphology, and biogeochemistry in watersheds, focusing on urban critical zone processes, streamflow dynamics, nitrate and phosphorus export, riparian connectivity, groundwater chemistry, and water quality management. His projects include developing deep learning techniques for continuous nitrate data, identifying optimal green stormwater infrastructure sites, assessing Appalachian headwater wetlands, and examining crop fertilization impacts on bedrock weathering. He has secured funding from the USDA for AI-powered water quality databases and collaborates internationally on water quality research. Key publications include "Effects of suburban development on runoff generation in the Croton River basin, New York, USA" (2005), "Best management practices for diffuse nutrient pollution: Wicked problems across urban and agricultural watersheds" (2020), "Monitoring the riverine pulse: Applying high-frequency nitrate data to advance integrative understanding of biogeochemical and hydrological processes" (2019), "Dynamics of nitrate concentration-discharge patterns in an urban watershed" (2017), and "Mechanisms driving the seasonality of catchment scale nitrate export: Evidence for riparian ecohydrologic controls" (2015). His scholarship has received over 1,400 citations according to Google Scholar. Duncan serves on the Pennsylvania Forested Riparian Buffer Advisory Committee since 2017 and the American Geophysical Union Hydrology Section Subcommittee on Water Quality since 2013.

Professional Email: jmduncan@psu.edu