Grant Graves

Grant Graves is the Assistant Director and Research and Monitoring Coordinator for the Oklahoma Water Survey (OWS). He works with the University of Oklahoma faculty and staff and the Oklahoma water community to develop hydrologic research and monitoring efforts that will provide innovative and sustainable solutions to Oklahoma’s water resources. He is also the laboratory manager for the OWS.

Prior to joining OU in 2017, Grant was a hydrologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry (ODAFF) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Throughout his tenures with the agencies over a period of four years, he was involved with many important hydrologic projects at the national, regional, state and local levels such as the Canadian River alluvial groundwater model, Oklahoma Panhandle regional streamflow statistics, and Oklahoma agricultural water quality. In his most recent position with the USFWS, he was the water resources inventory & monitoring coordinator for the Southeast Region’s National Wildlife Refuges where he helped lead local and regional projects to protect and enhance water resources for habitat and wildlife.

Grant received his B.S. and M.S. in Environmental Sciences from Oklahoma State University (OSU) in Stillwater, OK. His published research as a graduate student at OSU focused on contaminant transport and best management practice approaches for improving surface water quality. His overall research interests include hydrological and ecological processes in water quality and availability, environmental protection and restoration, GIS applications, and research development. Grant is currently pursuing his doctorate in Environmental Science at OU. He is an avid fisherman and enjoys spending time on Oklahoma’s rivers and reservoirs.

Ellis, J.H., Mashburn, S.L., Graves, G.M., Peterson, S.M., Smith, S.J., Fuhrig, L.T., Wagner, D.L., and Sanford, J.E., 2017, Hydrogeology and simulation of groundwater flow and analysis of projected water use for the Canadian River alluvial aquifer, western and central Oklahoma (ver. 1.1, March 2017): U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2016–5180, 64 p., 7 pls., https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20165180.

Smith, S.J., Lewis, J.M., and Graves, G.M., 2015, Methods for estimating the magnitude and frequency of peak streamflows at ungaged sites in and near the Oklahoma Panhandle: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2015–5134, 35 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20155134. 

Graves, G. M., Vogel, J.R., Belden, J.B., Rebek, E.J., & Simpson, A.M., 2014, Investigation of insecticide leaching from potted nursery stock and aquatic health benefits of bioretention cells receiving nursery runoff. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 21(14), 8801-8811. (Link)