Jean E Moran Faculty Profile

Research Interests:   groundwater dating and groundwater contamination vulnerability, isotopic tracers in hydrogeology and environmental geology, artificial recharge, public health and drinking water quality, sources and transport of nitrate in groundwater, analytical methods for environmental geochemistry, chemical evolution of fluids in the earth's crust,  sources and transport of iodine and 129-Iodine in the environment

• PhD University of Rochester (Geochemistry)
• M.S. University of Washington (Geophysics)
• B.S. University of Rochester (Geology)
• B.A. University of Rochester (Physics)

Recent Publications:

de Jong, M., Visser, A., Moran, J.E. Identifying Paleowater in California Drinking Water Wells. July 2019 Quaternary International DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2019.04.008

Grande, E., Visser, A., Beitz, P., Moran, J.E. Examination of Nutrient Sources and Transport in a Catchment with an Audubon Certified Golf Course. Water 2019, 11(9), 1923; https://doi.org/10.3390/w11091923

Veale, N; Visser, A.; Esser, B.; Singleton, M.J.; Moran, J.E. Nitrogen Cycle Dynamics Revealed Through δ¹⁸O-NO₃⁻ Analysis in California Groundwater. Geosciences 2019, 9, 95. Ate Visser, Jean E. Moran, Michael J. Singleton, Bradley K. Esser "Importance of river water recharge to the San Joaquin Valley groundwater system"  Hydrological Processes, https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.11468, Jan, 2018

Elizabeth Avery, Richard Bibby, Ate Visser, Bradley Esser, Jean Moran "Quantification of Groundwater Discharge in a Subalpine Stream using Radon-222" Water, http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/10/2/100, Jan, 2018

Elizabeth Peters, Ate Visser, Bradley Esser, Jean Moran "Tracers Reveal Recharge Elevations, Groundwater Flow Paths and Travel Times on Mount Shasta, California" Water, http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/10/2/97, Jan, 2018

Jamal Alikhani, Amanda Deinhart, Ate Visser, Richard Bibby, Roland Purtschert, Jean Moran, Arash Massoudieh, Brad Esser “Nitrate vulnerability projections from Bayesian inference of multiple groundwater age tracers”, Journal of Hydrology, DOI: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2016.04.028, April, 2016.

Harms, Patrick; Visser, Ate; Moran, Jean; Esser, Bradley ‘Distribution of Tritium in Precipitation and Surface Water in California’ Journal of Hydrology, DOI: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2015.12.046, March, 2016.

Visser, Ate; Moran, Jean; Hillegonds, Darren; Singleton, Michael; Kulongoski, Justin; Belitz, Kenneth; Esser, Bradley ‘Geostatistical Analysis of Tritium, Groundwater Age, and Other Noble Gas Derived Parameters in California’ submitted to Water Research 91, DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2016.01.004, Jan, 2016.

Ryan G. Lucas±, Francisco Suárez, Martha H. Conklin, Scott W. Tyler, and Jean E. Moran ‘Polymictic Pool Behavior in a Montane Meadow, Sierra Nevada, CA’, Hydrological Processes, Hydrological Processes 30(18):DOI10.1002/hyp.10834 March, 2016.

Kropp, A., Joyce, J. Moran, J.E. “Source of water key to understanding landslide causation”, Proceedings of the 12th International Symposium on Geodisaster Reduction (winner of ICGdR best paper of the year, 2014)

Segal, D.C., Moran, J.E., Visser, A., Singleton, M.J., and Esser, B.K. (2014) “Seasonal Variation of High Elevation Groundwater Recharge as Indicator of Climate Response”, Journal of Hydrology, v. 519:3129-3141.

Bensen, A., Zane, M., ±Becker, T., Visser, A., ±Urióstegui, S., ±DeRubeis, E., Moran, J. E., Esser, B., K., Clark, J. (2014) “Quantifying Reaeration Rates in Alpine Streams using Deliberate Gas Tracer Experiments”, Water,  6(4):1013-1027.

Kropp, A., Joyce, J. Moran, J.E. “Source of water key to understanding landslide causation”, Proceedings of the 12th International Symposium on Geodisaster Reduction (winner of ICGdR best paper of the year, 2014)

Visser A., Singleton M., Hillegonds D., Velsko C., Moran J. E., and Esser B. K. (2013) A membrane inlet mass spectrometry system for noble gases at natural abundances in gas and water samples, pp. 40. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry, Volume 27, Issue 21, 2472–2482 doi: 10.1002/rcm.6704

Hu, Q., Moran, J.E., Gan, J. (2012) Sorption, Degradation, and Transport of Methyl Iodide and Other Iodine Species in Geological Media. Applied Geochemistry. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.2011.12.022

Moran, J.E., Esser, B.K., Hillegonds, D. ±Holtz, M., Roberts, S.K., Singleton, M.J., ±Visser, A. (2011) Nitrate fate and transport in the Salinas Valley. LLNL-TR-484186, 38pp.

O’Leary, D.R., Izbicki, J.A., Moran, J.E., Meeth, T., Nakagawa, B., Metzger, L.,Bonds, C., Singleton, M.J. (2011) Movement of Water Infiltrated from a RechargeBasin to Wells. Ground Water  doi: 10.1111/j.1745-6584.2011.00838.x.

Singleton, M.J. and Moran, J.E. (2010) Dissolved noble gas and isotopic tracers reveal vulnerability of groundwater in a small, high elevation catchment to predicted climate changes. Water Resources Research doi: 10.1029/2009WR008718.

Hu, Q., Moran, J.E., Gan, J. (in press) Sorption, Degradation, and Transport of Methyl Iodide and Other Iodine Species in Geological Media. Applied Geochemistry.

Cey, B., Hudson, G.B., Moran, J.E., and Scanlon, B.R. (2009) Critical Evaluation of Noble Gas Recharge Temperatures in a Shallow Unconfined Aquifer.  Ground Water 47, 646-659.

O’Leary, D.R., Izbicki, J.A., Moran, J.E., Meeth, T., Nakagawa, B., Metzger, L.,Bonds, C., Singleton, M.J. (2011) Movement of Water Infiltrated from a Recharge Basin to Wells. Ground Water  doi: 10.1111/j.1745-6584.2011.00838.x.

Iodine: Radionuclides, by Hu, Q.H., and J.E. Moran. in: Encyclopedia of Inorganic Chemistry. Edited by R.H. Crabtree, 165-178. John Wiley: Chichester, 2010.

McNab, W.W., Singleton, M.J., Moran, J.E., Esser, B.K. (2009) Ion exchange and trace element surface complexation reactions associated with applied recharge of low-TDS water in the San Joaquin Valley, California.  Applied Geochemistry, 24, 129-137.

Geochemical Cycling of Iodine Species in Soils, by Hu, Q., Moran, J.E., and Blackwood, V. in: Comprehensive Handbook of Iodine. Edited by Preedy, V., Burrow, G.,and Watson, R. Academic Press 2009, 1328 pp.

Cey, B., Hudson, G.B., Moran, J.E., and Scanlon, B.R. (2008) Impact of Artificial Recharge on Dissolved Noble Gases in Groundwater in California, USA. Environ. Sci. Technol. 42, 1017-1023.

Singleton M. J., Esser B. K., Moran J. E., Hudson G. B., McNab W. W., and Harter T. (2007) Saturated Zone Denitrification: Potential for Natural Attenuation of Nitrate Contamination in Shallow Groundwater Under Dairy Operations. Environ. Sci. Technol. 41(3), 759-765.

Applied Geochemistry, Volume 22, Issue 3,  Pages 491-714 (2007)  Halogens and Their Isotopes in Marine and Terrestrial Systems  Edited by J.E. Moran and G.T. Snyder

Winner of the Hitcheon Award for the most significant Applied Geochemistry publication of 2006 Moore K., Ekwurzel B. E., Esser B. K., Hudson G. B., and Moran J. E. (2006) Sources of groundwater nitrate revealed using residence time and isotope methods. Applied Geochemistry 21(6), 1016-1029.

Jean E Moran, Ate Visser, Bradley K Esser, and Christina Buck, Comparing Budget-based and Tracer-based Residence Times in Butte Basin, California. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, December 10-15, 2017 New Orleans, LA.

Jean E Moran, Ate Visser, Michael J Singleton and Bradley K Esser, Addressing the Sustainability of Groundwater Extraction in California Using Hydrochronology (Invited). American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, December 10-15, 2017 New Orleans, LA.

Moran, J.E., DeRubeis, E., Visser, A., Singleton, M., Esser, B.K. Quantifying Discharge to a Subalpine Stream Using Physical and Geochemical Methods. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, December 15-19, 2014 San Francisco, CA.

Visser, A., Singleton, M., Moran, J.E., Fram, M., Esser, B.K   Analysis of Tritium, ³H/³He Age and Noble Gas Derived Parameters in California Groundwater. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, December 15-19, 2014 San Francisco, CA.

Harms, P., Visser, A., Moran, J.E.  Tritium and Stable Isotopes of Precipitation and Surface Water in California. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, December 15-19, 2014 San Francisco, CA.

Renshaw, A., Moran, J.E., Esser, B.K. STATISTICAL AND SPATIAL ANALYSIS OF INORGANIC ANIONS, CATIONS AND RADIONUCLIDES IN CALIFORNIA’S GROUNDWATER: ESTABLISHING A BACKGROUND AND ANALYZING SPATIAL VARIABILITY. Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, October 19-22, 2014, Vancouver, Canada.

JEAN E. MORAN, ELIZABETH DeRUBEIS, ATE VISSER, MICHAEL J. SINGLETON, STEPHANIE URIOSTEGUI, AND BRADLEY K. ESSER Quantifying Groundwater Discharge to Subalpine Streams Using Radon, Goldschmidt Conference, June 8-13, 2014, Sacramento, CA.

Moran, J.E., Singleton, M.J., ±Shaw, G., Conklin, M. (2010), A Comparison of the Vulnerability of Groundwater to Climate Change in Two High Elevation Catchments of the Sierra Nevada.  Abstract H21B-1046 presented at 2010 Fall Meeting, AGU, San Francisco, Calif., 13-17 Dec

±Lucas,R., Conklin, M.H., Tyler, S., Suarez, F.I., Esser, B.K., Moran, J.E. (2010), Polymictic pool behavior in Sierra Nevada Streams.  Abstract H21B-1046 presented at 2010 Fall Meeting, AGU, San Francisco, Calif., 13-17 Dec

Van der Hoven, S.J., Moran, J.E. (2010) Observations of Apparent Crustal 3He/4He Ratios in Shallow Aquifers from Around the World. Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, Oct 31-Nov 3.

Carle, S.F., Esser, B.K., Moran, J.E. Modeling Gas-Liquid Phase ³H-³He Transport for Interpretation of Groundwater Age.  Eos, Vol. 90, Number 52, 29 December 2009, Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract H23A-0920

Esser B. K.; M. J. Singleton; J. E. Moran; S. K. Roberts; ±C. G. Barton; N. Watanabe; T. Harter  Nitrate distribution and isotopic composition in vadose-zone sediments underlying large dairy operations.  Eos, Vol. 90, Number 52, 29 December 2009, Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract H34C-05

Singleton M. J.; J. E. Moran; B. Esser; C. E. Hatch; S. W. Tyler; ±C. Cox. Mixed Groundwater Ages in a Small Alpine Catchment.  Eos, Vol. 90, Number 52, 29 December 2009, Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract H21G-08

Moran J. E.; B. Esser; M. J. Singleton; D. J. Hillegonds The Use of Environmental Isotopes to Examine Human-induced Changes in the Hydrologic Record in California.  Eos, Vol. 90, Number 52, 29 December 2009, Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract H52A-03

Carle, S.F., Esser, B.K., Moran, J.E. Improved Interpretation of H3-He3 Groundwater Age Data

Through Modeling of Gas-Liquid Phase Flow and Transport Processes. Groundwater Resources Association of California, Groundwater Monitoring Conference, February 25-26, 2009, Orange, CA

Van der Hoven, S.J., Moran, J. E., Sheldon, A,L. Field and Laboratory Investigations of Rapid Accumulation of ⁴He in Groundwater: Applications for Dating Young Groundwater. 2008 Fall Meeting for American Geophysical Union, December 15-19, 2008, San Francisco, CA. AGU Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract H V53B-2160.

Singleton, M.J., Moran, J.E., Esser, B.K. Isotopic Constraints on Recharge, Residence Time, and Susceptibility to Climate Change of Groundwater in a Small Alpine Watershed.  2008 Fall Meeting for American Geophysical Union, December 15-19, 2008, San Francisco, CA. AGU Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract GC43C-0753.

Esser, B.K., Singleton, M.J., Leif, R., Hillegonds, D., Moran, J.E.  Use of tritium-helium groundwater age and anthropogenic VOCs to assess deep groundwater susceptibility in California urban and agricultural basins 2008 Fall Meeting for American Geophysical Union, December 15-19, 2008, San Francisco, CA. AGU Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract H51H-0979 INVITED

Moran, J.E., Tompson, A.F., Demir, Z.  An Isotopic Investigation of Groundwater Recharge in the East Mesa Area of the Salton Sea Basin. 2008 Fall Meeting for American Geophysical Union, December 15-19, 2008, San Francisco, CA. AGU Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract  H13G-1012

Hillegonds, D. Parker, D., Singleton, M.J., Esser, B.K., Moran, J.E., Buchholz, B., ±Rood, D., Finkel, R. Perchlorate isotope forensics with naturally produced 36Cl. 2008 Fall Meeting for American Geophysical Union, December 15-19, 2008, San Francisco, CA. AGU Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract H53F-01

Carle, S.F., Moran, J.E., Esser, B.K. Deep groundwater signatures in a shallow aquifer system, Sonoma Valley, California.  2008 Joint Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America, October 5 – 9, 2008, Houston, TX.

Hu. Q., and Moran, J.E. Distribution and transport of iodine species in the environment. 2008 Joint Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America, October 5 – 9, 2008, Houston, TX.

Singleton, M.J., Moran, J.E., Esser, B.K., Williams, D. Groundwater residence time in an alpine basin likely to be impacted by climate change.  Groundwater Resources Association of California Symposium on Groundwater and Climate Change, August 13, 2008, Sacramento, CA.

±M.J. Singleton, J.E. Moran, B.K. Esser, R.N. Leif, W.W. McNab Isotopic tracers of human wastewater in groundwater systems, Applications of Isotope Tools to Groundwater Studies Symposium, Groundwater Resources Association of California, March 29, 2007, Concord, CA.

Moran, J.E. Michael J. Singleton, Steven F. Carle, and Bradley K. Esser  Intrinsic and Extrinsic Chemical and Isotopic Tracers for Characterization of Groundwater Systems. Three-Dimensional Geologic Mapping for Groundwater Applications, GSA Workshop, October 27, 2007, Denver, CO.

Moran, Jean, Mcnab, Walt W., Singleton, Michael J., Leif, Roald , and Esser, Bradley, Tracing Transport and Water Quality Changes at a Groundwater Banking Facility in California's Central Valley  GSA Denver Annual Meeting 28–31 October 2007 Paper No. 42-2

Carle, S.F., Moran, J.E., Esser, B.K. 2007. A New Modeling Framework for Simulation of Apparent ³H-³He Groundwater Age and Mixing. Applications of Isotope Tools to Groundwater Studies Symposium, Groundwater Resources Association of California, March 29, 2007, Concord, CA.

±Shaw, Glenn, Conklin, Martha Nimz, Greg and Moran, Jean  Using ³⁶Cl/Cl, ²²²Rn, and ³He/⁴He to identify activation of older groundwater to the Merced River during snowmelt, Yosemite National Park. Applications of Isotope Tools to Groundwater Studies Symposium, Groundwater Resources Association of California, March 29, 2007, Concord, CA.

Moran, J.E., G. Bryant Hudson, ±Bradley D. Cey, and ±Michael J. Singleton Lessons Learned from Two Thousand Tritium-Helium Ground-water Ages in California, USA. 4th Mini Conference on Noble Gases in the Hydrosphere and Natural Gas Reservoirs February, 28th to March 2nd, 2007, Potsdam, Germany.

Moran, J.E., Qinhong Hu, Pihong Zhao, and ±Erik Nelson, Predicting the Fate and Transport of 129Iodine in the Environment Through Studies of Stable Iodine.  9^th International Conference of the Japanese AMS Society, October 18-21 2006, Tokyo, Japan.

Bradley K. Esser, Jean E. Moran, Roald N. Leif, ±Michael J. Singleton, Steve Carle, Walt W. McNab, Harry R. Beller, Roberto Ruiz, Matthew F. Verce, Timothy D. Ford, Nan Liu, Harold W. Culham, and Michael A. Sharp, GAMA Special Studies: The impact of septic effluent and groundwater banking on California groundwater quality. Groundwater Resources Association of California Annual Meeting, September 19- 20, 2006, San Diego, CA.

Moran, J.E., Beller, H. R., Leif, R., ±Singleton, M.J. A Multi-tracer Approach to Determining the Fate of Wastewater Indicator Compounds in Groundwater. 2006 Fall Meeting for American Geophysical Union, December 11-15, 2006, San Francisco, CA. AGU Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract H12C-04.

±M.J. Singleton, J.E. Moran, B.K. Esser, R.N. Leif, Beller, H.R., An Isotopic, Dissolved Gas, and Trace Organic Investigation of Nitrate Sources in Urbanized Groundwater Basins, 2006 Fall Meeting for American Geophysical Union, December 11-15, 2006, San Francisco, CA. AGU Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract H12C-08

Moran, J.E., ±Singleton, M.J., Esser, B.K., Hudson, G.B. Use of Tritium-Helium Groundwater Age in Nitrate Fate and Transport Studies, 2006 Annual Meeting for the Geological Society of America, October 22-25, 2006, Philadelphia, PA.

Carle, S.F., Moran, J.E., Esser, B.K. Simulation of Apparent Groundwater Age and Mixing in a Heterogeneous Shallow Aquifer Undergoing Agricultural Pumping and Recharge. 2006 Annual Meeting for the Geological Society of America, October 22-25, 2006, Philadelphia, PA.

Moran, J.E., Leif, R., Esser, B.K., ±Singleton, M.J. (2005)  Evidence for Groundwater Contamination Vulnerability in California’s Central Valley  American Society of Agronomy, Plant and Soil Conference, Feb. 7,8  2005, Visalia, CA.

Moran J.E., Hudson, G.B., Esser, B., ±Singleton, M., Carle, S., McNab, W. The Effects Of Agricultural Nitrate Sources On Groundwater Supplies In California GSA Abstracts with Programs 2005

Moran J.E., ±Moore, K., Hudson, G.B., Esser, B., Ekwurzel, B.  Sources And Transport Of Nitrate In The Livermore Valley Groundwater Basin GSA Abstracts with Programs 2005

±Cey, B., Moran J.E., Hudson, G.B. Dissolved Gases as Indicators of Geochemical and Hydrogeologic Processes GSA Abstracts with Programs 2004

Moran J.E., Hudson, G.B., and Leif, R. California Groundwater Quality Monitoring: Use Of Age-Dating And Low-Level Vocs To Assess Aquifer Vulnerability GSA Abstracts with Programs 2004

Moran J.E., Hudson, G.B. Comprehensive Monitoring Approaches at Regional and Statewide Levels—Advantages and Limitations GSA Abstracts with Programs 2004

±Shaw, G D, Hudson, G B, Moran, J, Conklin, M  Identifying Groundwater Discharge in the Merced River Basin, California Using Radon-222  (2004), Eos Trans. AGU, 85(47)

Department Chair, 2016-2018, 2019-2020

Graduate Program Coordinator, CSU East Bay, 2010-2016

Board of Directors, Groundwater Resources Association of California, 2006-2012

University Committee on Research, CSU East Bay, 2014-2016

Outstanding Researcher (Tenured) Award 2017

M.S. student theses (available at the university library website: http://library.csueastbay.edu/home)

Grande, Emilio: "Tracers Reveal Water Budget and Nutrient Transport for a Catchment in Berkeley, California" (2019)

"Veale, Nathan: "Nitrate in California: Isotopic Composition and Spatial Trends" (2018)

Vialpando, Marcelino: "Quantifying hydrologic interactions in Tuolumne Meadows" (2018)

Peters, Elizabeth: "Sources and residence times of water near Mount Shasta determined by tracers and evapotranspiration analysis" (2017)

Lovelace, Faithe: "Sources of excess phosphate leading to cyanobacteria blooms at Lake Temescal, Oakland, CA" (2017)

Renshaw, Andrew: "Novel Methods for Groundwater Monitoring Within Regions of Oil and Gas Production in California" (2015)

Deinhart, Amanda: "Application of Multi-Tracer Methods to Determine Age Distribution in Nitrate Contaminated Wells in Turlock California" (2015)

Harms, Patrick: "Distribution of Tritium in Precipitation and Surface Water in California" (2015)

deJong, Menso: "Analysis of Extrinsic Tracer Data at Seawater Intrusion Barriers in Los Angeles County" (2014)

Holtz, Marianne: “Investigating the Source of Nitrate in a Water Supply Well in the Salinas Valley with Isotopic Tracers” (2014)

Segal, Daniel:  "Dissolved Gases and Isotopes as Tools for Aquifer Characterization in Martis Valley" (2013)

Beitz, Pamela: "A Multi-tiered Catchment Analysis of Upper Redwood Creek, an Urban, Trout Bearing Stream in Oakland, California" (2013)

DeRubeis, Elizabeth: "Radon as a Tracer of Groundwater-Surface Water Interaction in Martis Valley" (2013)