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Scott Ensign, Ph.D.

500 500 Stroud Water Research Center
Scott Ensign, Ph.D.

Assistant Director, Vice President

Administration and Finance Department

Research Scientist

Contact

ensign@stroudcenter.org
tel. 610-910-0041
970 Spencer Road, Avondale, PA 19311

ORCID | Google Scholar | ResearchGate | CV

Interests and Expertise

Scott Ensign is an ecosystem ecologist working to discover how plants, animals, and microbes interact within rivers and how the results of those processes influence how people and society interact with rivers. In collaboration with his colleagues, he makes biogeochemical measurements, performs experiments, and interprets results using statistical models and analysis. Ensign is particularly interested in developing new measurement technologies for aquatic environments, exploring how sea level rise affects rivers, and implementing conservation techniques that improve ecological conditions and the utility people derive from freshwater ecosystems.

Education

  • Ph.D., ecology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
  • M.S., ecology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
  • B.A., environmental science, University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

Professional Experience

  • Assistant director, Stroud Water Research Center, 2018–present.
  • Adjunct assistant professor, Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Science Department, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, 2013–2018.
  • Founder/CEO, Planktos Instruments, LLC, Morehead City, North Carolina, 2013–2018.
  • Founder/managing partner, Aquatic Analysis and Consulting, LLC, Wilmington, North Carolina, 2004–2017.
  • Research ecologist, National Research Program, United States Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia, 2010–2011.
  • Research technician III, Institute of Marine Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Morehead City, North Carolina, 2004–2005.
  • Research technician II, Institute of Marine Science, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Wilmington, North Carolina, 1997–2002.

Publications

Concentration-discharge relationships of chlorophyll describe the origin and fluxes of river algae across ecoregions

Peipoch, M., M. Daniels, and S. Ensign. 2025. Freshwater Science, early online access.

Institute Profile: Stroud Water Research Center

Ensign, S.H. 2025. Limnology and Oceanography Bulletin, early online access.

Advancing freshwater science with sensor data collected by community scientists

Oviedo-Vargas, D., M. Peipoch, S.H. Ensign, D. Bressler, D.B. Arscott, and J.K. Jackson. 2024. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 22(6): e2748.

To achieve the Clean Water Act’s goals, prioritize upstream ecology

Ensign, S.H., D.B. Arscott, M. Daniels, C. Dow, J.K. Jackson, D. Oviedo-Vargas, and M. Peipoch. 2024. Water Resources IMPACT 26(3): 19–21.

Watershed sediment cannot offset sea level rise in most U.S. tidal wetlands

Ensign, S.H., J.N. Halls, and E.K. Peck. 2023. Science 382(6675): 1191–1195.
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