Janice Brahney

S.J. & Jessie E. Quinney College of Natural Resources

Watershed Sciences

Dr. Janice Brahney is an environmental biogeochemist interested in anthropogenic and natural drivers of water quality and aquatic community composition. Her research sits at the nexus of several critical zone disciplines and includes three primary themes, 1) the transboundary atmospheric transport of particulates into watersheds and the subsequent ecological ramifications, 2) the implications of a melting cryosphere on biogeochemical cycles and community composition, and 3) the development and refinement of geochemical proxies used to reconstruct historical shifts in environmental processes.

She has received over $1.5M in research grants from a range of federal, state, and international agencies including the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, Utah State Division of Water Quality, Canadian Provincial Parks, the US Forest Service, and US Geological Survey. Much of Dr. Brahney’s work has produced results with far-reaching implications for policy, land-use regulation, and ecosystem monitoring.

Locally, she is a member of the Utah Lake Water Quality Science Panel and the Great Salt Lake Technical Team. Internationally, she sits on several advisory committees including the Columbia River Treaty Ecosystems Services and Climate Change group. Her work has been cited in the IPCC and has received considerable attention from the media, including National Geographic, NPR, and Discover Online.