Position Title
Professor
Associate Director of the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences
Education and Degree(s)
- Ph.D., UC Santa Barbara (1992)
Research Interests
Bio
My research focuses on earth-surface processes (geomorphology) applied to a broad range of problems. Much recent work involves rivers, fluvial geomorphology, flood hydrology, floodplains, and flood-related public policy. My research group applies fluvial geomorphology, hydrologic and statistical tools, GIS, and other approaches to assess river dynamics and flood hazards. Although much current research focuses on rivers and flooding, I continue to work on a broad range of processes that shape the earth surface and operate, in particular, over anthropogenic time scales. One pressing human application is for managing risk from natural hazards, and my group has worked extensively on quantifying those risks, guiding mitigation and other solutions, and providing a scientific basis for sound natural-hazards policy.
Honors and Awards
- Eco-Alianza: Environmental Stewardship Award, 2024
- Geological Society of America, E.B. Burwell, Jr., Awardee, Environmental & Engineering Geology Division, 2022
- Geological Society of America Fellow, 2020-present
- Roy J. Shlemon Chair in Applied Geosciences, 2015-present
- Fulbright Specialist, U.S. State Dept., Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, 2013-2018:
- Marie Curie Fellow, European Commission, 2010
- Fulbright Fellow awardee, 2010, 2000
- Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Prize, 2007, 2003
Press
- National Public Radio | Wisconsin Reservation Offers A Climate Success Story And A Warning
- Ecogeo - Each year, UC Davis students of geology, ecology, hydrology, and many other fields plunge into in-depth, interdisciplinary science, policy, and management-focused studies of rivers and coastal systems, including on some of the most remote and scenic water bodies of western North America.
- Geology, Geomorphology, Rivers and Flooding, Science-Driven Policy