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 Rangeland Resources & Systems Research: Fort Collins, CO
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ARS Home Plains Area Fort Collins, Colorado Center for Agricultural Resources Research Rangeland Resources & Systems Research People







Sean Kearneyheadline bar  /ARSUserFiles/30123025/images/Sean_headshot_ES.jpg
**Sean P. Kearney**
**Research Ecologist**
CONTACT INFORMATION       ADDRESS: USDA, ARS  Crops Research Laboratory 1701 Center Ave. Fort Collins, CO 80526        PHONE: 970-492-7136 FAX:     970-492-7160       E-MAIL: Sean.Kearney@usda.gov Degrees:  **B.A.**  International Business
(Minor: Economics)
2008
Western Washington University**M.Sc.**    International Agricultural Development
(Focus: Soil Science)
2011
University of California, Davis**Ph.D.**    Soil Science
2017
University of British Columbia, Vancouver  **Research interests:** Dr. Kearney’s research is focused on combining field and remote sensing data to solve agricultural land management challenges. His work ranges from improving methods to monitor indicators of land health (e.g., erosion, carbon storage) to using spatial analysis tools to better understand the interactions between human activity and environmental change across landscape, regional and global scales. Dr. Kearney’s work links ground data with a variety of remotely sensed datasets, including satellite imagery, GPS collar data on livestock and wildlife, airborne laser scanning (LiDAR) and others.  **Current research questions:** What drives changes in rangeland conditions across space and time, and how are these linked to multiple rangeland management objectives, including cattle productivity, wildlife habitat and biodiversity? How can we improve fine-scale mapping of rangeland conditions such as forage quality, forage biomass and habitat provisioning using near-real-time satellite time series?
What is the relative influence of plant functional groups, topography, soils and seasonal precipitation on grassland phenology and productivity, and cattle weight gains?
How do adaptive rangeland management practices such as pulse grazing and rotational herd management influence foraging behavior, cattle weight gain and rangeland conditions?
What is driving differences in cattle foraging behavior across space, time and management strategies?  **Publications:** **Kearney, S.P.,**Porensky, L.M., Augustine, D.J.****and Pellatz, D.W. 2023.Toward broad-scale mapping and characterization of prairie dog colonies from airborne imagery using deep learning.*Ecological Indicators*154: 110684.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2023.110684 Augustine, D.J.,**Kearney, S.P.**, Raynor, E.J., Porensky, L.M. and Derner, J.D.2023.Adaptive, multi-paddock, rotational grazing management alters foraging behavior and spatial grazing distribution of free-ranging cattle.*Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment*352: 108521.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2023.108521 Hoover, D.L., Abendroth, L.J., Browning, D.M., Saha, A., Snyder, K., Wagle, P., Witthaus, L., Baffaut, C., Biederman, J.A., Bosch, D.D.,Bracho, R.,Clark, P., Ellsworth, P., Fay, P.A., Flerchinger, G.,**Kearney, S.**, Levers, L., Saliendra, N., Schmer, M., Schomberg, H., Scott, R.L. 2022.Indicators of water use efficiency across diverse agroecosystems and spatiotemporal scales.Science of The Total Environment 864,160992.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160992 Augustine, D.J., Raynor, E.J.,**Kearney, S.P.** and****Derner, J.D.****2022. Can measurements of foraging behaviour predict variation in weight gains of free-ranging cattle?*****Animal Production Science.*****https://doi.org/10.1071/AN21560 **Kearney, S.P.**,Porensky, L.M., Augustine, D.J., Derner, J.D., Gao, F. 2022.Predicting Spatial-Temporal Patterns of Diet Quality and Large Herbivore Performance Using Satellite Time Series.*Ecological Applications*32(2): e2503.https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2503. **Kearney, S.P.**, Porensky, L.M., Augustine, D.J., Gaffney, R., Derner, J.D. 2022. Monitoring standing herbaceous biomass and thresholds in semiarid rangelands from harmonized Landsat 8 and Sentinel-2 imagery to support within-season adaptive management. *Remote Sensing of Environment* 271: 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2022.112907. Gaffney, R., D.J. Augustine,**S.P. Kearney**, and L.M. Porensky.****2021. Using hyperspectral imagery to characterize rangeland vegetation composition at process-relevant scales.*****Remote Sensing*****13:4603.****doi: 10.3390/rs13224603 **Kearney, S.P.,**N.C . Coops, S .Sethi, G.B. Stenhouse. 2020. Maintaining accurate, current, rural road network data: An extraction and updating routine using RapidEye, participatory GIS and deep learning. *International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation* 87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2019.102031 McClelland, Cameron JR., N. C. Coops, E.E. Berman, **S.P. Kearney**, S. E. Nielsen, A . C. Burton, G. B .Stenhouse. 2019. Detecting changes in understorey and canopy vegetation cycles in West Central Alberta using a fusion of Landsat and MODIS.*Applied Vegetation Science.* https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12466 **Kearney**, **S. P.**, N. C. Coops, G. B. Stenhouse, S. E. Nielsen, T. Hermosilla, J. C. White, M. A. Wulder. 2019. Grizzly bear selection of recently harvested forests is dependent on forest recovery rate and landscape composition. *Forest Ecology and Management*. 449. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2019.117459 Berman, E. E., N.C .Coops, **S.P .Kearney**, G.B. Stenhouse. 2019. Grizzly bear response to fine spatial and temporal scale spring snow cover in Western Alberta. *PloS One* 14 (4), e0215243. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0215243 **Kearney, S. P.,** Coops, N. C., Stenhouse, G. B., & Nelson, T. A. 2019. EcoAnthromes of Alberta : An example of disturbance-informed ecological regionalization using remote sensing.*Journal of Environmental Management*, *234*, 297–310. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.12.076 Coogan, S. C. P., Coops, N. C., Janz, D. M., Cattet, M. R. L., **Kearney, S. P.,** Stenhouse, G. B., & Nielsen, S. E. 2019. Towards grizzly bear population recovery in a modern landscape.*Journal of Applied Ecology*, *56*, 93–99. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13259 García, E., P. Siles, L. Eash, R. Van Der Hoek, **S. P. Kearney**, S. M. Smukler, S. J. Fonte. 2019. Participatory evaluation of improved grasses and forage legumes for smallholder livestock production in Central America. *Experimental Agriculture*. 55. 5. 776-792. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0014479718000364 Coops, N. C., **Kearney, S. P.,** Bolton, D. K., & Radeloff, V. C. 2018. Remotely-sensed productivity clusters capture global biodiversity patterns. *Scientific Reports*, *8*, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-34162-8 **Kearney, S.P.,**Fonte, S.J., García, E., Smukler, S.M., 2017. Improving the utility of erosion pins: Absolute value of pin height change as an indicator of relative erosion. *Catena* 163, 427–432. doi:10.1016/j.catena.2017.12.008 **Kearney, S.P.**, Fonte, S.J., García, E.D., Siles, P., Chan, K.M.A., Smukler, S.M., 2017. Evaluating ecosystem service trade-offs and synergies from slash-and-mulch agroforestry systems in El Salvador. *Ecological Indicators*. doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2017.08.032 **Kearney, S.P.**, Coops, N.C., Chan, K.M.A., Fonte, S.J., Siles, P., Smukler, S.M., 2017. Predicting carbon benefits from climate-smart agriculture: High-resolution carbon mapping and uncertainty assessment in El Salvador. *Journal Environmental Management*. 202, 287–298. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.07.039 **Kearney, S.P.**, Smukler, S.M., 2016. Determining Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Removals Associated with Land-Use and Land-Cover Change, in: Rosenstock, T.S., Rufino, M.C., Butterbach-Bahl, K., Wollenberg, E., Richards, M. (Eds.), Methods for Measuring Greenhouse Gas Balances and Evaluating Migration Options in Smallholder Agriculture. Springer. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-29794-1_3 **Kearney, S.P.**, Fonte, S.J., Salomon, A., Six, J., Scow, K.M., 2012. Forty percent revenue increase by combining organic and mineral nutrient amendments in Ugandan smallholder market vegetable production. *Agronomy for Sustainable Development*32, 831–839. doi:10.1007/s13593-012-0097-6


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