Samuel N. Luoma
Emeritus

B.S., Montana State University, Zoology
M.S., Montana State University, Zoology, "Hibernation in the Western Jumping Mouse, Zapus princeps".
Ph.D., University of Hawaii, Marine Biology, "Mercury cycling in a small Hawaiian estuary"

snluoma@usgs.gov
650-329-4481

Dr. Samuel N. Luoma has moved to emeritus status at USGS, after 34 years as a project chief with the agency and 15 years as a Senior Research Hydrologist. He remains active in project research, however. At present he also leads science policy coordination for the John Muir Institute of the Environment at the University of California, Davis. He is the Editor-in-Chief of San Francisco Estuary & Watershed Science and is a Scientific Associate with The Natural History Museum in London, UK. He served as the first Lead Scientist for the CALFED Bay-Delta program, an innovative program of environmental restoration of over 40% of California's watershed, and water management issues for 60% of California's water supply.

Research Interests
Luoma’s specific research interests are in the bioavailability and ecological effects of metals in aquatic environments. He is an author on more than 200 peer-reviewed publications. Developing interests include work with metallo-nanoparticles. In 2008 he worked with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars to write a report on the state of knowledge with regard to nanosilver: Silver Nanotechnologies and the Environment: Old problems or new challenges. He wrote Introduction to Environmental Issues, in 1984, published by Macmillan Press and, with co-author Philip Rainbow recently finished Metal Contamination in Aquatic Environments: science and lateral management, which will be released by Cambridge University Press in Sept. 30 2008. He is an editorial advisor for the highly respected Marine Ecology Progress Series, and is on the editorial board of Oceanologia. He was a W.J. Fulbright Distinguished Scholar in the UK in 2004 and is a Fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science. His awards include the President’s Rank Award for careers accomplishments as a senior civil servant, the U. S. Department of Interior's Distinguished Service Award and the University of California at Davis Wendell Kilgore award for environmental toxicology. He has served nationally and internationally as a scientific expert or advisor on issues at the interface of science and environmental management, including sediment quality criteria (USEPA SAB Sub-committee), Bioavailability of Contaminants in Soils and Sediments (Canadian National Research Council, 1987; US National Research Council sub-committee, 2000-2), mining issues (UNESCO, Global Mining Initiative), selenium issues, environmental monitoring, and metal effects.

Selected publications
Luoma, S. N. 1978. Detection of trace contaminant effects in aquatic ecosystems. J. Fish. Res. Bd. Can., 34:436-439.

Luoma S. N. and Bryan, G. W., 1978. Factors controlling availability of sediment-bound lead to the estuarine bivalve Scorbicularia plana. J. Mar. Biol. Assoc., UK, 58:793-802.

Luoma S. N., 1983. Bioavailability of trace metals to aquatic organisms--A Review. Sci. Total Environ., 28:1-22.

Nichols, F. H., Cloern, J. E., Luoma, S. N. and Peterson, D. H., 1986. The modification of an estuary. Science, 231:567-573.

Luoma, S. N., 1989. Can we determine the biological availability of sediment-bound trace elements? Hydrobiologia, v. 176/177: 379-396.

Moore, J. N., and Luoma, S. N., 1990. Hazardous wastes from large scale metal extraction: A case study. Environ. Sci. Technol., 24:1279-1285.

Luoma, S. N., Johns, C., Fisher, N. S., Steinberg, N. A., Oremland, R. S., and Reinfelder, J. 1992. Determination of selenium bioavailability to a benthic bivalve from particulate and solute pathways. Environ. Sci. Technol., 26:485-491.

Luoma, S. N. 1995. Prediction of Metal Toxicity in Nature from Bioassays: Limitations and Research Needs in Metal Speciation and Bioavailability in Aquatic Systems, A. Tessier and D. Turner, eds. p. 609-646, John Wiley and Sons, Ltd., London.

Luoma, S. N. 1996. The developing framework of marine ecotoxicology: Pollutants as a variable in marine ecosystems? J. Exptl. Mar. Biol. Ecol., 200: 29-55.

Luoma, S. N., and Fisher, N., 1997. Uncertainties in assessing contaminant exposure from sediments: Bioavailability. p. 211-239. In Ecological Risk Assessments of Contaminated Sediments, C. Ingersoll, T. Dillon, G. Biddinger, eds. SETAC Press, Pensacola, FL.

Luoma, S.N., van Geen, A., Lee, B-G., and Cloern, J.E. 1998. Metal uptake by phytoplankton during a bloom in south San Francisco Bay: Implications for metal cycling in estuaries. Limnology & Oceanography, 43:1007-1016.

van Geen, A., and Luoma S. N. (eds) 1999. The impact of human activities on sediments of San Francisco Bay. Mar. Chem. 64:1-127.

Lee, B.-G., Griscom, S. B., Lee, J-S., Choi, H. J., Koh, C-H., Luoma, S. N., and Fisher, N. S. 2000. Influence of dietary uptake and reactive sulfides on metal bioavailability from aquatic sediments. Science, 287: 282-284.

Luoma, S.N., W Clements, T DeWitt, J Gerritsen, A Hatch, P Jepson, T Reynoldson, and R Thom. 2001. Role of Environmental Variability in Evaluating Stressor Effects. p. 141-176 In DJ Baird & GA Burton, eds. Ecological Variability: Separating Natural from Anthropogenic Causes of Ecosystem Impairment. SETAC Press, Pensacola, FL.

Luoma SN, Brown SS, Foster WG, Leckie JO, Teisl MF, Thomas JK, and Williams-Fleetwood, SO. 2002. Chapter4: Characteristics and Implications. P. 67 - 103 In RT DiGiulio and WH Benson, eds. Interconnections between Human Health and Ecological Integrity. SETAC Press, Pensacola, FL.