Deborah G. Grantham
Senior Extension Associate

307A Rice Hall (607)255-4931 E-mail: dgg3@cornell.edu B.S. Geology, University of Wyoming (1976) M.S. Geophysics, University of Connecticut (1993) Ph.D. Remote Sensing, Candidate: Cornell University, Remote Sensing (2004) Deborah Grantham conducted her graduate research on the use of an electromagnetic geophysical technique for mapping water-filled bedrock fractures in the Niagara Falls area. During her graduate work at the University of Connecticut, she worked for the U.S. Geological Survey Water Resources Division, testing and documenting the use of surface geophysics in groundwater contamination investigations and providing technical expertise and education on surface geophysical investigations of groundwater problems to geologists and hydrologists. Other applications of her education have included using borehole geophysics in oilfield applications and in mapping coal reserves. Currently, she is a Ph.D. candidate in Remote Sensing in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University. Her research interests are remote detection of water quality parameters for monitoring purposes. Deborah Grantham joined the Department in 1993 as an Extension Associate in Harold van Es’ Land and Water Management Extension Program. She developed an independent extension program in water resources management and was promoted to Senior Extension Associate in 2000.

Extension/Research Programs The main thrust of Deb’s extension program is the protection and management of water resources, with particular emphasis on nonpoint source pollution control. Her primary audience is local government officials. Other audiences include small water system operators and environmental professionals. Development began in 2000 on a major program, LEAPE: Locally led Education and Action for Protecting the Environment (http://leape.css.cornell.edu), an educational program based on custom software that targets local government with basic nonpoint source pollution education and management options on specific nonpoint source issues. The development team included faculty and educators from eight departments and units across Cornell University, a number of county Cornell Cooperative Extension associations, New York Sea Grant, Lake Champlain Sea Grant, and the St. Michael's College, Vermont. Version 1.0 of LEAPE was piloted in three New York towns and was being delivered in three counties in New York State as of December 2002. Four regional train-the-trainer workshops were conducted from September, 2002 through February, 2003, training 60 educators in the use of LEAPE using Version 1.2. Version 1.8 containing additional stormwater resources management education was piloted in an additional three counties in New York State and completed approximately December, 2003. As of February, 2004, LEAPE has been used in Essex and Tompkins Counties, New York. Another major initiative is an educational program for small water system operators who are primarily business operators, such as campground, convenience store, mobile home park, and restaurant operators (http://smallbusinessesprovidingsafewater.css.cornell.edu/). This program was piloted with a number of small water system operators in Onondaga County, New York and was reviewed by an advisory committee in the fall of 2002. A satellite-broadcast videoconference on March 19, 2003 trained educators at approximately 24 downlink sites in 4 states in the use of the materials. As of February, 2004, the materials have been used in Tompkins and Sullivan Counties, New York. In addition to program development, Deb works on state, regional and national levels to provide an entry point to extension programming in water resources in the Cornell Cooperative Extension system. Some of these efforts include initiatives to strengthen relationships with state and federal agencies and increase collaboration and integration of programming with other land grant universities. In particular, she is co-PI on a USDA - Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension System Water Quality Program three-year grant with Jeffrey Potent, Extension Liaison to EPA Region II, to develop a regional coordination of water quality programming among the four land grant universities in Region II (New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands) with EPA and other state and federal agencies and partners. As the Assistant Director of Natural Resources and Environment for Cornell Cooperative Extension, Deb provides leadership and support for programs which address protection and enhancement of natural resources and environment in New York State; fosters collaborative programming among faculty and off-campus Extension educators; and establishes effective working relationships with local, state, regional and national agencies and organizations. Grantham’s research program is one aspect of the Computational Agriculture Initiative led by Harold van Es, focusing on the use of hyperspectral sensing and data mining for rapid soil assessment. Hyperspectral sensing has recently been applied to the assessment of soil characteristics, and shows considerable promise for rapid estimation of a range of properties. The methods involve measuring reflectance with spectroradiometers operating in the visible and near-infrared (NIR) wavelength range (350 to 2500 nm), having spectral resolution of 3 nm and sampling intervals of less than 2 nm, yielding more than 400 data points per measurement. Grantham will investigate the feasibility of and attempt to develop procedures for the use of hyperspectral sensing for rapid assessment of a wide range of soil characteristics, and develop methods for data analysis and warehousing of such information.

Selected Publications Darling, Susan, Grantham, D.G., Hillman, K., Krkoska, Ward C., Lemley, A.T., Samuels, A., and Wagenet, L.P., 2003. Providing Safe Drinking Water: A Primer for Small Businesses and Organizations. Educational program on source water protection for small businesses that also provide drinking water, such as mobile home park operators, rural restaurants, and convenience stores. Grantham, D.G., Lemley, A.T., DiTella, K., Wagenet, L.P., and Samuels, A., 2002. Source Water Protection in Rural Watersheds Through Education of Small Water Systems Operators. American Water Works Association 2002 Water Sources Conference: Reuse, Resources, Conservation, January 27 - 30, 2002, Las Vegas, Nevada. Grantham, D.G., Barnaba, E.M., Smith, S.D., Allee, D.J., Raymond, L.S., Skaley, J.E., Schneider, R.L., Rossi, F.S., Loucks, D.P., Homziak, J., Lambert, H., Brousseau, L., Hasbrouck, E., Krkoska, Ward C., 2001. LEAPE: Locally-led Education and Action for Protecting the Environment (core software). Educational program on nonpoint source pollution control for local government officials. Core of program is software containing educational material, educator materials for conducting education. Utilizes resource information technologies, including geographic information systems. Grantham, D.G., E.M. Barnaba, S.D. Smith, D.J. Allee, D.P. Loucks, R.L. Schneider, and F.S. Rossi. 2001. LEAPE: Nonpoint Source and Watershed Management Education for Local Government. American Water Resources Association Summer Specialty Conference: Decision Support Systems for Water Resources Management, June 27 - 30, 2001, Snowbird, Utah. Grantham, D. G., Haeni, F. P., and Ellefsen, Karl, 1987, Forward modeling computer program for the inductive electromagnetic method: EM34.FOR, US Geological Survey Open-File Report 87--213--A, 43 p. Grantham, D. G., Haeni, F. P., and Mazzaferro, D.L., 1987, Forward modeling computer program for the very low frequency plane wave method: VLF.BAS, US Geological Survey Open-File Report 86--407W, 31 p. Haeni, F. P., Grantham, D. G., and Ellefsen, Karl, 1987, Microcomputer-based version of SIPT -- A program for the interpretation of seismic-refraction data, US Geological Survey Open-File Report 87--103--A, 65 p. Marrs, R. W., Levinson, R. A., and Grantham, D. G., 1976, Rapid, low-cost image analysis through video processing, Dept. of Energy Open-File Report GJBX--37(76), 54 p.