Ecosystem Scientist

Ecosystem Scientist Ethan Kyzivat in the field.

Ethan D. Kyzivat, Ph.D.

Ecosystem Scientist
ethan.kyzivat@briwildlife.org

Ethan Kyzivat researches the carbon cycle using remote sensing. His work has focused on aquatic ecosystems and methane emissions, with field campaigns in boreal Alaska and Canada, the Sonoran Desert, and New England. He has studied Arctic lakes as part of the NASA Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE). Other projects include measuring oil & gas methane emissions and remote sensing of surface hydrology as part of Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite program. He analyzes satellite and airborne data from optical, radar and drone remote sensors.

He joined BRI’s Center for Conservation and Climate Change in 2026, where he works on carbon projects focused on rangeland fire and grazing management. He contributes to remote sensing and process modeling of carbon in soils and vegetation.

Dr. Kyzivat came to BRI from a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard, where he helped develop an inverse atmospheric model of methane emissions from the MethaneSAT satellite. Outside of work, he enjoys jazz piano and vegetable gardening.

Education & Certifications

Education

  • Ph.D., Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Brown University, 2023
    • Kyzivat, E.D. (2023). Methane emission from arctic-boreal lakes: Insights from high-resolution remote sensing. Ph.D. Thesis, Brown University. 158pp.
  • B.S., Physics, Yale University, 2015

Certifications

  • Wilderness First Responder
  • FAA Remote Pilot-in-Command

Research Interests

  • Carbon cycle
  • Vegetation and hydrology
  • Inverse atmospheric modeling of methane
  • Arctic change
  • Remote sensing and geospatial data science

Expertise and Experience

  • Over a decade of interdisciplinary environmental research at academic institutions
  • Member of international science teams
  • Fieldwork in Arctic, temperate and arid regions
  • Scientific publication: 30 peer-reviewed articles
  • Reviewer for journals and funding agencies
  • STEM education & mentorship: pre-college course instructor and dedicated mentor

Journal Articles

    1. Virkkala, Anna-Maria, Isabel Wargowsky, Judith Vogt, et al. “ABCFlux v2: Arctic–Boreal CO2 and CH4 Monthly Flux Observations and Ancillary Information across Terrestrial and Freshwater Ecosystems.” Earth System Science Data Discussions, October 20, 2025, 1–86. https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-585.
    2. Kyzivat, E. D., & Smith, L. C. (2023). A Closer Look at the Effects of Lake Area, Aquatic Vegetation, and Double-Counted Wetlands on Pan-Arctic Lake Methane Emissions Estimates. Geophysical Research Letters, 50(24), e2023GL104825. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL104825
    3. Zhang, Z., Sargent, M., Warren, J. D., Chulakadabba, A., Russi, M., Ayvazov, S., Benmergui, J., Knapp, M., Kyzivat, E., Miller, C. C., Roche, S., Luo, B., Miller, D. J., Nasr, M., Sun, K., Williams, J. P., MacKay, K., Omara, M., Guanter, L., … Wofsy, S. C. (2026). Automatic Methane Plume Masking Based on Wavelet Transform Image Processing: Application to MethaneAIR and MethaneSAT data. EGUsphere, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-141
    4. Manninen, E., Chulakadabba, A., Sargent, M., Zhang, Z., Kamdar, H., Warren, J., Roche, S., Chan Miller, C., Kyzivat, E., Benmergui, J., Pittman, J., Walker, E., Bushey, J., Samra, J., Hawthorne, J., Luo, B., Nasr, M., Sun, K., Franklin, J., Liu, X., Chen, J., and Wofsy, S.: Probabilities of Detection of Methane Plumes by Remote Sensing and Implications for Inferred Emissions Distributions, EGUsphere [preprint], https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-1150-2026.
    5. Williams, J. P., Benmergui, J., Knapp, M., Omara, M., Himmelberger, A., Kyzivat, E., Weatherby, K., Lyke, B., Warren, J., MacKay, K., Ayvazov, S., Russi, M., LoFaso, N., Melendez, T., Miller, C. C., Roche, S., Sargent, M., Franklin, J., Nasr, M., … Gautam, R. (2026). Methane intensity and emissions across major oil and gas basins and individual jurisdictions using MethaneSAT observations. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 26(9), 5961–5981. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-5961-2026
    6. Liu, J., Huang, H., Hou, X., Feng, L., Pi, X., Kyzivat, E. D., Zhang, Y., Woodman, S. G., Tang, L., Cheng, X., & Gong, P. (2025). Expansion of aquatic vegetation in northern lakes amplified methane emissions. Nature Geoscience, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-025-01667-7
    7. *Fromm, L. T., Smith , L. C., & Kyzivat, E. D. (2025). Wetland vegetation mapping improved by phenological leveraging of multitemporal nanosatellite images. Geocarto International, 40(1), 2452252. https://doi.org/10.1080/10106049.2025.2452252
    8. Bambakidis, T., Crump, B. C., Yoon, B., Kyzivat, E. D., Aho, K. S., Leal, C. F., Fair, J. H., Stubbins, A., Wagner, S., Raymond, P. A., & Hosen, J. D. (2024). Temperature, water travel time, and dissolved organic matter structure river microbial communities in a large temperate watershed. Limnology and Oceanography. https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.12591
    9. Smith, L. C., Fayne, J. V., Wang, B., Kyzivat, E. D., Gleason, C. J., Harlan, M. E., Langhorst, T., Feng, D., Pavelsky, T. M., & Peters, D. L. (2023). Peace-Athabasca Delta water surface elevations and slopes mapped from AirSWOT Ka-band InSAR. Remote Sensing Letters, 14(12), 1238–1250. https://doi.org/10.1080/2150704X.2023.2280464
    10. Garcia-Tigreros, F., Elder, C. D., Kurek, M. R., Miller, B. L., Xu, X., Wickland, K. P., Czimczik, C. I., Dornblaser, M. M., Striegl, R. G., Kyzivat, E. D., Smith, L. C., Spencer, R. G. M., Miller, C. E., & Butman, D. E. (2023). Arctic-boreal lakes of interior Alaska dominated by contemporary carbon. Environmental Research Letters, 18(12), 124024. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad0993
    11. *Savignano, M. J., Kyzivat, E. D., Smith, L. C., & Engram, M. (2024). Geospatial Analysis of Alaskan Lakes Indicates Wetland Fraction and Surface Water Area Are Useful Predictors of Methane Ebullition. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 0(0), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2023.2277817
    12. Kurek, M. R., Garcia-Tigreros, F., Nichols, N. A., Druschel, G. K., Wickland, K. P., Dornblaser, M. M., Striegl, R. G., Niles, S. F., McKenna, A. M., Aukes, P. J. K., Kyzivat, E. D., Wang, C., Smith, L. C., Schiff, S. L., Butman, D., & Spencer, R. G. M. (2023). High Voltage: The Molecular Properties of Redox-Active Dissolved Organic Matter in Northern High-Latitude Lakes. Environmental Science & Technology, 57(23), 8617–8627. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c01782
    13. Wang, B., Smith, L.C., Gleason, C., Kyzivat, E.D., Fayne, J.V., Harlan, M.E., Langhorst, T., Feng, D., Eidam, E., Munoz, S., Davis, J., Pavelsky, T.M., & Peters, D.L. (2023). Athabasca River avulsion underway in the Peace-Athabasca Delta, Canada. Water Resources Research, e2022WR034114. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022WR034114
    14. *Goldstein, S. N., Ryan, J. C., How, P. R., Esenther, S. E., Pitcher, L. H., LeWinter, A. L., Overstreet, B. T., Kyzivat, E. D., Fayne, J. V., & Smith, L. C. (2023). Proglacial river stage derived from georectified time-lapse camera images, Inglefield Land, Northwest Greenland. Frontiers in Earth Science, 11. https://doi.org/10.1080/15481603.2023.2207288
    15. Kyzivat, E.D. and Smith, L.C. (2023). Contemporary and historical detection of small lakes using super resolution Landsat imagery: Promise and peril. GIScience & Remote Sensing, 60:1. https://doi.org/10.1080/15481603.2023.2207288
    16. Wang, C., Pavelsky, T. M., Kyzivat, E. D., Garcia-Tigreros, F., Podest, E., Yao, F., Yang, X., Zhang, S., Song, C., Langhorst, T., Dolan, W., Kurek, M. R., Harlan, M. E., Smith, L. C., Butman, D. E., Spencer, R. G. M., Gleason, C. J., Wickland, K. P., Striegl, R. G., & Peters, D. L. (2023). Quantification of wetland vegetation communities features with airborne AVIRIS-NG, UAVSAR, and UAV LiDAR data in Peace-Athabasca Delta. Remote Sensing of Environment, 294, 113646. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2023.113646
    17. Mullen, A. L., Watts, J. D., Rogers, B. M., Carroll, M. L., Elder, C. D., Noomah, J., Williams, Z., Caraballo-Vega, J. A., Bredder, A., Rickenbaugh, E., Levenson, E., Cooley, S. W., Hung, J. K. Y., Fiske, G., Potter, S., Yang, Y., Miller, C. E., Natali, S. M., Douglas, T. A., & Kyzivat, E. D. (2023). Using High-Resolution Satellite Imagery and Deep Learning to Track Dynamic Seasonality in Small Water Bodies. Geophysical Research Letters, 50(7), e2022GL102327. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL102327
    18. Kyzivat, E.D., Smith, L.C., Garcia-Tigreros, F., Huang, C., Wang, C., Langhorst, T., Fayne, J.V., Harlan, M.E., Ishitsuka, Y., Feng, D., Dolan, W., Pitcher, L.H, Wickland, K.P., Dornblaser, M.M., Striegl, R.G., Pavelsky, T.M., Butman, D.E., and Gleason, C.J. (2022). The Importance of Lake Emergent Aquatic Vegetation for Estimating Arctic-Boreal Methane Emissions. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 127, e2021JG006635. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JG006635
    19. Kurek, M. R., Garcia‐Tigreros, F., Wickland, K. P., Frey, K. E., Dornblaser, M. M., Striegl, R. G., Niles, S. F., McKenna, A. M., Aukes, P. J. K., Kyzivat, E. D., Wang, C., Pavelsky, T. M., Smith, L. C., Schiff, S. L., Butman, D., & Spencer, R. G. M. (2022). Hydrologic and Landscape Controls on Dissolved Organic Matter Composition Across Western North American Arctic Lakes. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 37, e2022GB007495. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022gb007495
    20. Huang, C., Smith, L. C., Kyzivat, E. D., Fayne, J. V., Ming, Y., & Spence, C. (2022). Tracking transient boreal wetland inundation with Sentinel-1 SAR: Peace-Athabasca Delta, Alberta and Yukon Flats, Alaska. GIScience & Remote Sensing, 59(1), 1767–1792. https://doi.org/10.1080/15481603.2022.2134620
    21. Aho, K.S., Fair, J.H., Hosen, J.D., Kyzivat, E.D., Logozzo, L.A., Weber, L.C., Yoon, B., Zarnetske, J.P. and Raymond, P.A. (2022). An intense precipitation event causes a temperate forested drainage network to shift from N2O source to sink. Limnology and Oceanography, 67: S242-S257. https://doi.org/10.1002/LNO.12006
    22. Harlan, M. E., Gleason, C. J., Altenau, E. H., Butman, D., Carter, T., Chu, V. W., et al. (2021). Discharge estimation from dense arrays of pressure transducers. Water Resources Research, 57. e2020WR028714. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020WR028714
    23. Aho, K.S., Fair, J.H., Hosen, J.D., Kyzivat, E.D., Logozzo, L.A., Rocher-Ros, G., Weber, L.C., Yoon, B. and Raymond, P.A. (2021). Distinct concentration-discharge dynamics in temperate streams and rivers: CO2 exhibits chemostasis while CH4 exhibits source limitation due to temperature control. Limnology and Oceanography, 66(10), 3656–3668. https://doi.org/10.1002/LNO.11906
    24. B.Yoon, J.D. Hosen, E.D. Kyzivat, J.H. Fair, L.C. Weber, K.S. Aho, R. Lowenthal, et al. (2021). Export of Photolabile and Photoprimable Dissolved Organic Carbon from the Connecticut River. Aquatic Sciences 83 (2): 23. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-021-00778-8
    25. J.D. Hosen, K.S. Aho, J.H. Fair, E.D. Kyzivat, S. Matt, J. Morrison, A. Stubbins, L.C. Weber, B. Yoon, P.A. Raymond (2021). Source Switching Maintains Dissolved Organic Matter Chemostasis Across Discharge Levels in a Large Temperate River Network. Ecosystems 24, 227–247. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-020-00514-7
    26. Lezine, E.M., Kyzivat, E.D., Smith, L.C. (2021). Super-resolution surface water mapping on the Canadian Shield using Planet CubeSat images and a Generative Adversarial Network. Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing 47:2, 261-275. https://doi.org/10.1080/07038992.2021.1924646
    27. L.H Pitcher, L.C. Smith, S.W. Cooley, A. Zaino, R. Carlson, J. Pettit, C. J. Gleason, T. Minear, J.V. Fayne, M. E Harlan, T. Langhorst, S. N. Topp, W. Dolan, E.D. Kyzivat, A. Pietroniro, D. Yang, T. Carter, C. Onclin, N. Hosseini, D. Moreira, M. Berge-Nguyen, J.-Francois Cretaux, T. Pavelsky (2020). Advancing field-based GNSS surveying for validation of remotely sensed water surface elevation products. Frontiers in Earth Science 8. http://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2020.00278
    28. J.V. Fayne, L.C. Smith, L.H. Pitcher, E.D. Kyzivat, S.W. Cooley, M.G. Cooper, M. Denbina, A.C. Chen, C.W. Chen, T.M. Pavelsky, (2020). Airborne observations of arctic-boreal water surface elevations from AirSWOT Ka-Band InSAR and LVIS LiDAR. Environmental Res. Letters 15 105005, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abadcc
    29. Kyzivat, E.D., L. C. Smith, L.H Pitcher, J.V. Fayne, S.W. Cooley, M.G. Cooper, S.N. Topp, T. Langhorst, M. Harlan, C. Horvat, C. J. Gleason, T. M. Pavelsky (2019). A high-resolution airborne color-infrared camera water mask for the NASA ABoVE campaign. Remote Sensing 11. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11182163
    30. J.D. Hosen, K. S. Aho, A.P. Appling, J.H. Fair, R.O. Hall, E.D. Kyzivat, S. Matt, J. Morrison, J.E., Saiers, J.B. Shanley, L. Weber, B. Yoon, and P.A. Raymond (2019), Enhancement of primary production during drought in a temperate watershed greater in larger rivers than headwater streams. Limnology and Oceanography 64(4). https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.11127

Grants, Awards & Fellowships

  • Harvard Initiative on Reducing Global Methane Emissions award (2026)
  • Reginald A. Daly Postdoctoral Fellowship, Harvard (2023-2026)
  • NASA Terrestrial Ecology Program grant (2022-25)
  • NASA FINESST (Future Investigators in Earth & Space Science & Technology) Fellowship (2020-2023)