Facundo Scordo

Summary

Dr. Facundo Scordo is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Nevada, Reno, where he investigates wildfire impacts on freshwater ecosystems, human-driven stressors on lakes and rivers, and freshwater ecosystem resilience under global change. He also serves as Co-Coordinator of the Castle Lake Environmental Research and Education Program. From 2016 to 2024, he taught graduate and undergraduate courses in the Geography & Tourism Department at the Universidad Nacional del Sur in Argentina. In addition, he worked as a Researcher with the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET–Argentina) from 2021 to 2024, focusing on metabolic dynamics, nutrient limitation, and climate-driven changes in lake ecosystems.

As a limnologist and environmental scientist, Dr. Scordo leads research on diverse aquatic systems across North and South America, including extensive work in Argentine Patagonia. Through his coordination of the Castle Lake Environmental Research and Education Program; research on iconic U.S. lakes such as Crater Lake and Lake Tahoe; and long-term collaborations in Argentina, his work examines how global change, land use, and human activities shape water quality, ecological resilience, and community vulnerability. He integrates field, laboratory, and modeling approaches to understand processes across freshwater ecosystems, with emphasis on three core areas: (1) human stressors affecting lake and river systems, (2) freshwater ecosystem resilience under global change, and (3) wildfire emissions and their impacts on water quality. These themes align with broader efforts to address complex socioenvironmental challenges and advance water science at the human–environment interface.

Dr. Scordo has collaborated with state, national, and intergovernmental institutions, as well as Tribal Nations and private landowners. He has built a broad international network with collaborators in Argentina, Guatemala, Japan, Cambodia, Italy, and the United States, strengthening cross-continental studies of freshwater ecosystem dynamics. As a member of the Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network (GLEON), he has held leadership roles and contributed to international and interdisciplinary research initiatives.

Previously, Dr. Scordo held postdoctoral appointments at the University of Nevada, Reno, and the Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía, where he researched wildfire emissions, lake ecosystem responses to hydroclimatic variability, and watershed-scale human impacts. He earned his Ph.D. in Geography from Universidad Nacional del Sur and his B.S. in Environmental Sciences from the University of Buenos Aires, where he graduated with highest honors.

Research interests

Dr. Facundo Scordo is a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, jointly appointed with the Tahoe Institute for Global Sustainability and the Wildfire Research and Technology Lab (WRT Lab).

A limnologist by training, Dr. Scordo leads research on diverse freshwater systems across North and South America, integrating field investigations, laboratory analyses, and modeling approaches to advance ecological theory and inform environmental management. His work centers on three core themes: (1) wildfire emissions and aquatic ecosystem responses, (2) human stressors on lake and river systems, and (3) freshwater ecosystem resilience under global change.

Dr. Scordo contributes to research, teaching, and mentorship in freshwater ecology and environmental science, drawing on extensive experience in collaborative, multidisciplinary projects at national and international scales. He has built a broad global network through partnerships and fieldwork across South, Central, and North America, Asia, and Europe.

Education

• Ph.D in Geography, Universidad Nacional del Sur (Argentina; 2018)
• B.S. in Environmental Sciences, Unviersidad de Buenos Aires (Argentina; 2011)

Selected publications

• Scordo F., Seitz F., Abasto B., Spetter C.V., Cintia Piccolo, M., Buria L., & Perillo, G.M.E. 2025. Nutrients limiting the growth of planktonic and benthic-littoral primary producers in Patagonian Andean Lakes. Inland Water.
• Scordo F., Seitz C., Buria L., Piccolo M.C., & Perillo G.M.E. 2025. Climatic and human impacts on Patagonian terminal lakes. Science of The Total Environment.
• San Pedro A., Scordo, F., Seitz, C., Krynak E.M., Girdner S.F., Blaszczak J., & Chandra S. 2025. Context-dependent controls of periphyton across the littoral-benthic habitat of deep, clear lakes. Aquatic Science.
• Loria K., Lowman H., Krause J., Katona, L., Naranjo, R., Scordo F., Harpold A., Chandra S. & Blaszczak J.R. 2025. The influence of mountain streamflow on nearshore ecosystem metabolism in a large, oligotrophic lake across a drought and a wet year. Limnolgy & Oceanography.
• Bolan S., Sharma S., Mukherjee S, Gomez Isaza D.F., Rodgers E.M., Zhou P., Hou D., Scordo F., Chandra S., Siddique K.H.M., & Bolan N. 2025 Wildfires under changing climate, and their environmental and health impacts. Journal of Soils Sediments. 
• Smits Adrianne P., Hall E.K., Deemer B.R., Scordo F., Barbosa C.C., Carlson S.M., Cawley K, Grossart H.P., et al. 2025. Too much and not enough data: challenges and solutions for generating information in freshwater research and monitoring. Ecosphere. 
• Scordo F., Seitz C., Suenaga K.E., Piccolo M.C., Chandra S., Amodeo M., & Perillo G.M.E. 2024. An inexpensive method for the measurement of photosynthetically active radiation profiles in waterbodies. Aquatic Sciences.
• Scordo F., Seitz C., Abasto B., Spetter C.V., Piccolo M.C., Chandra S., & Perillo G.M.E. 2024. Habitat-specific metabolism and nutrient limitation within an oligotrophic Patagonian Lake. Hydrobiologia.
• Smits A.P., Scordo F., Tang M., Cortés A., Farruggia M.J., Culpepper J., Chandra S., Jin Y., Valbuena S.A., Watanabe S., Schladow G., & Sadro S. 2024. Wildfire smoke reduces lake ecosystem metabolic rates unequally across a trophic gradient. Commun Earth Environ. 
• Alfonso M.B., Scordo F., Epele L.B., Isobe A., Akmentins M.S., Albariño R., Albarrán K.K., Allende L., Andrade-Muñoz A.S., et al. 2024. Filling the gap: a comprehensive freshwater network to map microplastics across ecological gradients in Argentina. Limnology and Oceanography Bulletin. 
• Farruggia, M. J., Brahney, J., Tanentzap, Brentrup J.A., Brighenti L.S., Chandra S., Cortés A., Fernandez R.L., ..., Scordo, F., et al. 2024. Wildfire smoke impacts lake ecosystems. Global Change Biology.
• Oleksy I.A., Solomon C.T., Jones S.E., Olson C., Bertolet B.L., Adrian R., Bansal S., Baron J.S., …, Scordo F., et al. (2024). Controls on lake pelagic primary productivity: Formalizing the nutrient-color paradigm. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences.
• Bess Z., Koning A., Simmons J., Suenaga E., San Pedro A., Scordo F., Seitz C., Rhoades S., McKinnon T., et al. 2024. Fish diversity and use of nearshore and open-water habitats in terminal lakes. Fisheries.
• Weyhenmeyer G.A., Chukwuka A.V., Anneville O., Brookes, Carvalho C.R., Cotner J.B., Grossart H.P., Hamilton D.P.,…, Scordo F., et al. 2024. Global lake health in the Anthropocene: Societal implications and treatment strategies. Earth's Future.
• Scordo F., Girdner S.F., San Pedro A., Seitz C., & Chandra S. 2023. Deterioration of the Littoral–Benthic Ecosystem Following Recent Expansion of Signal Crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) in the World’s Clearest Large Lake. Ecosystems.
• Scordo F., Seitz C., Fiorenza J.E., Piccolo M.C., & Perillo G.M.E. 2023. Human impact changes hydrological connectivity in a Patagonian fluvial basin. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies.
• Seitz C., Scordo F., Suenaga E., Carlson E.M., McMillen S., Gregory L., Chandra S. 2023. Salinity and pH effects on survival, growth, and reproduction of quagga mussels. PeerJ.
• Nava V., Chandra S., Aherne J., Julian Aherne, Alfonso M.B., Antão-Geraldes A.M., Attermeyer K., Bao R., … Scordo F., et al. 2023 Plastic debris in lakes and reservoirs. Nature.
• Scordo F., Sadro S., Culpepper J., Seitz C., & Chandra S. 2022. Wildfire smoke effects on lake-habitat specific metabolism: Toward a conceptual understanding. Geophysical Research Letters.
• Scordo F., Lotting N.R., Fiorneza J.E., Culpepper J., Simons J., Seitz C., Krynak E.M., Suenaga E.K. & Chandra S. 2022. Hydroclimate variability affects habitat-specific (open water and littoral) lake metabolism. Water Resource Research.
• Shuman J.K., Balch J.K., Barnes R.T., Higuera F.E., Roos C.I., Schwilk D.W., Stavros N.E., Banerjee T., … Scordo F., et al. 2022 Reimagine fire science for the Anthropocene. PNAS Nexus.
• Lottig N.R., Phillips J.S., Batt R.D., Scordo F., Williamson T.J., Carpenter S.R., Chandra S., Hanson P.C., Solomon C.T., Vanni M.J., & Zwart, J.. 2022. Estimating primary production in lakes: comparison of 14C incubation and free-water O2 Approaches. Limnology and Oceanography: Methods.
• Scordo F., Chandra S., Suenaga E.K., Kelson S.J., Culpepper J., Scaff L., Tromboni F., Caldwell T.J., Seitz C., Fiorenza J.E., Williamson C.E., Sadro S., Rose K.C., & Poulson, S.R. 2021. Smoke from regional wildfires alters lake ecology. Scientific Reports.