Senior Environmental Chemist

Heather Forth, Senior Environnmental Chemist

Heather Forth, Ph.D.

Senior Environmental Chemist
heather.forth@briwildlife.org

Heather is an environmental scientist with expertise in environmental chemistry, contaminant fate and transport, contaminant characterization, field sampling, and natural resource damage assessment (NRDA). She has supported numerous federal, state, and tribal clients with assessments and field studies at sites across the country involving a range of organic and inorganic contaminants. Her work often involves characterizing and assessing the nature and extent of contaminants in the environment. Through this work, she has supported the development of numerous new and innovative sampling and analytical methods to improve our ability to detect and quantify oil and other contaminants in the environment.

As part of the NRDA Consulting Group, Heather provides technical and litigation support at multiple sites. This includes several sites contaminated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) where she is serving as a testifying or consulting expert. Heather is a telecommuter living in Colorado.

Education & Certifications

  • Colorado School of Mines, 2012 – Ph.d., Environmental Science and Engineering
  • Colorado School of Mines, 2008 -M.S., Environmental Science and Engineering
  • Whitman College, 2004 – B.A., Biology

Research Interests

  • Natural Resource Damage Assessment
  • Environmental chemistry
  • Contaminant fate and transport
  • PFAS technical and litigation support
  • Oil spill assessment
  • Field sampling including ephemeral data collection

Journal Articles

  • Forth, H.P., Rissing, M. and Travers, C. 2021. Use of Correlated Water Sample Chemistry and SAR Footprints to Estimate Oil Concentrations in the Upper Water Column during the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. ACS Earth and Space Chemistry 5(11): 3097-3103.
  • Morris, J.M., Gielazyn, M., Krasnec, M.O., Takeshita, R., Forth, H.P., Labenia, J.S., Linbo, T.L., French, B.L., Gill, J.A., Baldwin, D.H. and Scholz, N.L., 2018. Crude oil cardiotoxicity to red drum embryos is independent of oil dispersion energy. Chemosphere, 213, pp.205-214.
  • Bridges, K.N., Lay, C.R., Alloy, M.M., Gielazyn, M.L., Morris, J.M., Forth, H.P., Takeshita, R., Travers, C.L., Oris, J.T. and Roberts, A.P. 2018. Estimating incident ultraviolet radiation exposure in the northern Gulf of Mexico during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Environmental toxicology and chemistry, 37(6), pp.1679-1687.
  • Damare, L.M., Bridges, K.N., Alloy, M.M., Curran, T.E., Soulen, B.K., Forth, H.P., Lay, C.R., Morris, J.M., Stoeckel, J.A. and Roberts, A.P. 2018. Photo-induced toxicity in early life stage fiddler crab (Uca longisignalis) following exposure to Deepwater Horizon oil. Ecotoxicology, 27(4), pp.440-447.
  • Forth, H.P., C.L. Mitchelmore, J.M. Morris, and J. Lipton. 2017. Characterization of oil and water accommodated fractions used to conduct aquatic toxicity testing in support of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill natural resource damage assessment. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 36(6): 1450-1459.
  • Forth, H. P., C.L. Mitchelmore, J.M. Morris, C.R. Lay, and J. Lipton. 2017. Characterization of dissolved and particulate phases of water accommodated fractions used to conduct aquatic toxicity testing in support of the Deepwater Horizon natural resource damage assessment. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 36(6): 1460-1472.
  • O’Shaughnessy, K. A., Forth, H., Takeshita, R., Chesney, E. J. 2017. Toxicity of weathered Deepwater Horizon oil to bay anchovy (Anchoa mitchilli) embryos. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 148:473-479.
  • Alloy, M., T.R. Garner, K. Bridges, C. Mansfield, M. Carney, H. Forth, M. Krasnec, C. Lay, R. Takeshita, J. Morris, S. Bonnot, J. Oris, and A. Roberts. 2017. Co‐exposure to sunlight enhances the toxicity of naturally weathered Deepwater Horizon oil to early lifestage red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) and speckled seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus). Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 36(3):780–785. doi: 10.1002/etc.3640.
  • Cheemalapati, S., H.P. Forth, H. Wang, K.R. Konnaiyan, J.M. Morris, and A.L. Pyayt. 2017. Measurement of thickness of highly inhomogeneous crude oil slicks. Applied Optics, 56(11), E72-E76.
  • Esbaugh, A.J., E.M. Mager, J.D. Stieglitz, R. Hoenig, T.L. Brown, B.L. French, T.L. Linbo, C. Lay, H. Forth, N.L. Scholz, J.P. Incardona, J.M. Morris, D.D. Benetti, and M. Grosell. 2015. The Effects of Weathering and Chemical Dispersion on Deepwater Horizon Crude Oil Toxicity to Mahi-Mahi (Coryphaena hippurus) Early Life Stages. Science of the Total Environment 543:644–651.
  • Pace (Forth), H.E., N.J. Rogers, C. Jarolimek, V.A. Coleman, E.P. Gray, C.P. Higgins, and J.F. Ranville. 2012. Single particle inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry: A performance evaluation and method comparison in the determination of nanoparticle size. Environmental Science & Technology 46(22):12272–12280.
  • Pace (Forth), H.E., N.J. Rogers, C. Jarolimek, V.A. Coleman, C.P. Higgins, and J.F. Ranville. 2011. Determining transport efficiency for the purpose of counting and sizing nanoparticles via single particle inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Analytical Chemistry 83(24):9361–9369.
  • Pace (Forth), H.E., Lesher, E.K. and Ranville, J.F., 2010. Influence of stability on the acute toxicity of CdSe/ZnS nanocrystals to Daphnia magna. Environmental toxicology and Chemistry, 29(6), pp.1338-1344.Ranville, J.F., H.E. Pace (Forth), E.K. Lesher, and B.T. Lee. 2009. Advanced methods to characterize nanomaterials for environmental toxicity studies. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta Supplement, 73, p.A1072.
  • Jackson, B.P., H.E. Pace (Forth), A. Lanzirotti, R. Smith, and J.F. Ranville. 2009. Synchrotron X-ray 2D and 3D elemental imaging of CdSe/ZnS quantum dot nanoparticles in Daphnia magna. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry 394(3):911–917.

Research Reports

  • Forth, H.P., K. Ritter, and M. McLaughlin. 2020. Historical Reconstruction of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substance Concentrations in the Pease International Tradeport, New Hampshire Water System. Final report prepared for ATSDR.
  • Forth, H.P., J. Holmes, A. Kukulya, L. DiPinto, G. Graettinger, R. Conmy, and O. Garcia-Pineda. 2019. Three-Dimensional Mapping of Dissolved Hydrocarbons and Oil Droplets Using a REMUS-600 Autonomous Underwater Vehicle. Final report prepared for the Coastal Response Research Center.
  • Forth, H.P., S. Allan, and M.Steinhoff. 2019. Passive Sampling Devices for Non-Polar Organic Hydrocarbons: Guidance Document. Report prepared for NOAA.
  • Brown, L., H.P. Forth, L. Reichle, AJ Casner, A. McFadden. 2018. Using Alternatives Assessment Approaches to Inform the Ranking of TRI-listed Solvent chemicals. Report prepared for EPA TRI Program.
  • Holmes, J.H., J.M. Morris, and H.P. Forth. 2018. Deepwater Horizon Lessons Learned Studies: Methodology and Operational Tools to Assess Future Oil Spills. Detection of Oil Thickness and Emulsion Mixtures using Remote Sensing Platforms. Report prepared for NOAA and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. Available: https://www.bsee.gov/research-record/osrr-1079-deepwater-horizon-lessons-learned-methodology-and-operational-tools-to
  • Forth, H.P., J.M. Morris, C.R. Lay, J. Lipton, C.L. Mitchelmore, and S.E. Suttles. 2015. Characterization of Oil and Water Accommodated Fractions Used to Conduct Aquatic Toxicity Testing in Support of the Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment. Boulder, CO. DWH Toxicity NRDA Technical Working Group Report.
  • Forth, H.P., J.M. Morris, and D. Cacela. 2015. Explanation of Analytes Included in the Total Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Sums Used by the Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment Toxicity Group. Boulder, CO. DWH Toxicity NRDA Technical Working Group Report.
  • Forth, H.P., D. Cacela, J.M. Morris, A. Pyayt, S. Cheemalapati, H. Wang, and K.R. Konnaiyan. 2015. Measurement of Slick Thickness by Light Attenuation. Boulder, CO. DWH NRDA Toxicity Technical Working Group Report.
  • Lay, C.R., J.M. Morris, R. Takeshita, H.P. Forth, C. Travers, A.P. Roberts, M. Alloy, T.R. Garner, and K. Bridges. 2015. Incident Ultraviolet (UV) Radiation and Extinction Coefficients in the Northern Gulf of Mexico During the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Boulder, CO. DWH Toxicity NRDA Technical Working Group Report.
  • Lay, C.R., J.M. Morris, R. Takeshita, H.P. Forth, C.L. Travers, A.P. Roberts, M. Alloy, A. McFadden, T.R. Garner, and C. Overturf. 2015. The Effect of Ultraviolet (UV) Radiation on the Toxicity of Deepwater Horizon Oil. Boulder, CO. DWH Toxicity NRDA Technical Working Group Report.
  • Morris, J.M., C.R. Lay, and H.P. Forth. 2015. Effects of Weathering on the Toxicity of Oil to Early Life-Stage Fish and Invertebrates. Boulder, CO. DWH Toxicity NRDA Technical Working Group Report.
  • Morris, J.M., H.P. Forth, C.R. Lay, R. Takeshita, and J. Lipton. 2015. Toxicity of Thin Floating Oil Slicks to Fish and Invertebrates. Boulder, CO. DWH Toxicity NRDA Technical Working Group Report.
  • Morris, J.M., C.R. Lay, H.P. Forth, D. Cacela, and J. Lipton. 2015. Use of Bioassay Data in Field Exposure and Toxicity Modeling. Boulder, CO. DWH Toxicity NRDA Technical Working Group Report.
  • Travers, C., H. Forth, M. Rissing, and D. Cacela. 2015. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Concentrations in the Upper Water Column during the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. (WC_TR.03). Boulder, CO. DWH Water Column NRDA Technical Working Group Report.
  • Travers, C., C. Wobus, J. Morris, C. Lay, M. Rissing, H. Forth, and J. Holmes. 2015. Mortality Estimates of Invertebrates and Early Life Stage Fish and Other Injury Metrics in the Upper Mixed Layer of the Water Column during the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Boulder, CO. DWH Water Column NRDA Technical Working Group Report.

Grants, Awards & Fellowships

  • Fulbright Scholar, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia, 2010-2011