Graduate Topics

NASA Funded Research Assistantship on improving effectiveness of Riverscape Consortium Apps for supporting beaver rewilding

1/18/2023

With support from NASA (Award: 80NSSC21K1353) we currently have funding through a joint project with researchers at Boise State University to develop commercial-grade Apps that will support beaver rewilding restoration efforts in riverscapes as well as citizen science. The broader project is focusing on leveraging earth observation platforms (i.e. remote sensing) to support on the ground decision making in rewilding work (see recent article) . We are already pretty far along working with professional software developers on development of a MorPhoto (repeat photo monitoring App), improvements to BRAT and are scheduled to begin development on a citizen science app. Two years of graduate student support are secured (could be MS or PhD) included in the last 2 years of the grant starting Fall 2023.

The focus of this graduate student would be on objectively testing the effectiveness of the suite of tools at helping facilitate beaver rewilding efforts and riverscape restoration. There is opportunity to work directly with practitioners, policy makers and the public and iterate based on feedback to improve the tools and see if it improves effectiveness. The ideal candidate will have a strong interest and/or experience in low-tech process-based riverscape restoration, and rewilding using beaver. Experience in programming and scripting is not necessary, but an aptitude to learn and become proficient in GIT version control, python and/or R scripting, MarkDown and ability to work and communicate with a large team of software developers and communications professionals. I am looking for someone with an interest and/or experience in studying riverscapes, and working at the interface of science and practice. Strong communication skills, empathy with end users, some technical aptitude and proficiency are all musts. I can train the student with the right mindset in what skills you are missing and help you design a program of study that helps you fulfill your career goals and plug critical knowledge and skills gaps.

The primary deliverables from the graduate student will be getting some publications out on a mix of the effectiveness of the tools we're building and maybe some case-studies of using them for monitoring LTPBR effectiveness. We're deep right now into developing the MorPhoto repeat photo monitoring app. We'll be transitioning into making Commercial Grade versions of BRAT and a citizen science beaver monitoring app.

Interested applicants should send an email to me (see instructions on prospective students page) and any questions. If interested, please apply formally through USU School of Graduate Studies. A review of applications will begin mid to late February.

See video below for an example (from project) of the types of projects we are trying to support in these efforts:

0 Comments

beaver for increasing resilience to fire & post-fire recovery

10/15/2018

0 Comments

Status Update (Dec, 2020): This project was unfortunately not funded in FY19. It is currently dormant. I am still seeking funding for it. We had a stellar crop of over-qualified applicants for a Fall 2019, but were unable to secure the studentship support from a handful of interested agencies.

If you are a prospective graduate student looking to apply for Fall 2020 start, I am still keen to fill this position, but will be unable to do so unless I successfully find grant funding. If you are a prospective student, and are able to secure your own studentship, tuition and research support funding, please get in touch with me.
If you are an organization (e.g. agency, NGO, etc.) interested in partnering on this important research and have ideas for funding this research, please get in touch with me.

UNTIL I HAVE SECURED FUNDING, I am not actively seeking graduate students on this project, but happy to field questions and inquiries. My apologies.

2018 brought more extreme fires across the West. As this recent New York Times article points out, riparian areas can provide critical refugia for wildlife and livestock during fires, plus help accelerate the recovery process post-fire. However, there has been virtually no research done looking at the critical role beaver can play in this process. This was brought to our attention first hand on Sharps Fire (near Sun Valley, Idaho) at right this summer in which the only green patches were where there are active beaver dam complexes!

We are still working out details of securing emergency funding from a combination of IDFG, USFS and BLM related to beaver and low-tech process based restoration fire resilience. However, prospects are promising and we're advertising now to attract top candidates.

Subject to securing funding, I am looking to attract 1-2 graduate students (Jan 2019 - Jun 2019 start dates) to explore one or more of the following topics related to fires in Idaho, Nevada and/or Utah:

Beaver-mediated resilience to fire
Role of low-tech process based restoration (including beaver) in post-fire recovery and protection of critical habitat - Looking at geomorphic and riparian responses)

I will consider applications at both a Masters and PhD level. The ideal student will have a strong background in geomorphology and ecology and some research experience.

Interested students should see below:

Prospective Student Inquiry

0 Comments

Masters or PhD Student - Diagonal Bar Dynamics

1/6/2018

1 Comment

Update on Status (as of June 2020): Well, I have had this posted for a few years and had a ton of great students show interest. Unfortunately, my attempts to secure funding have fallen flat. I am leaving it up as it is still a topic I'd love to help a student explore, but I am not actively recruiting on it for now.

A conceptual model of diagonal bar evolution Damia Vericat and I developed and have started to test on rivers in Spain.

Status Update (Oct, 2019): This project was unfortunately not funded in FY19. I am still seeking funding for it. We had a stellar crop of over-qualified applicants for a Fall 2019, but were unable to secure the studentship support from a handful of interested agencies.

If you are a prospective graduate student looking to apply for Fall 2020 start, I am still keen to fill this position, but will be unable to do so unless I successfully find grant funding or you can secure fellowship funding. If you are a prospective student, and are able to secure your own studentship, tuition and research support funding, please get in touch with me.
If you are an organization (e.g. agency, NGO, etc.) interested in partnering on this important research and have ideas for funding this research, please get in touch with me.

UNTIL I HAVE SECURED FUNDING, I am not actively seeking graduate students on this project, but happy to field questions and inquiries. My apologies.

I am seeking a Masters or PhD Student to shed light on diagonal bar dynamics. Diagonal what? Diagonal bars are by far the most common mid-channel bar throughout the world's rivers and streams, yet many people have never heard of them. Diagonal bars split flow around themselves in a characteristically asymmetrical fashion, creating complex in-channel habitat and leaving behind distinctive islands and floodplain topography. Diagonal bars start their lives as margin or bank attached bars on the inside-bend of flow, but then proceed to detach from the bank via a process of chute cutoff formation along the inside bend. They seem to evolve through a similar progression in extremely different fluvial environments. Diagonal bars are an excellent geoindicator of river-health in many reach types (e.g. wandering gravel bed rivers) as they often disappear when lateral adjustment is artificially confined. Basic empirical data on diagonal bars, their occurrence, their evolution and their prevalence is largely lacking from the geomorphic literature and restoration practitioners are largely unaware of their importance. This student would work with myself and Damia Vericat to build-out, refine, and rigorously test a conceptual model of diagonal bar evolution we developed, and build important insights into this poorly understood but pervasive bar form.

1 Comment

Masters or PhD Student with interest in contributing to beaver ecogeomorhpology

1/6/2018

2 Comments

UPDATE: I am excited to announce that this position was filled by Karen Bartelt!

With growing interest in beaver as a cost-effective restoration and conservation tool, much is made of the geomorphic responses that beaver's ecosystem engineering and dam building will yield. Yet surprisingly, no coherent framework for predicting and explaining what sort of specific geomorphic responses we expect in what environments. Specifically, a masters student would focus on 1-2 of the following topics and a PhD would likely tackle all 3:

Using geomorphic change detection on a long-term, repeat topographic dataset of geomorphic dynamics across 100's of beaver dams and beaver dam analogues to more clearly identify and explain geomorphic mechanisms of change that shape beaver dam complexes through their life spans.
Using the Wheaton et al. (2015) fluvial taxonomy and our Geomorphic Unit Toolkit, develop a stronger empirical and conceptual basis for the geomorphic unit assemblages (i.e. landforms) that consistently make up beaver dams and beaver dam complexes, how these evolve through time and how these assemblages differ across different reach types
Build network riverscapes models that predict geomorphic responses to different degrees of beaver dam building activity throughout a watershed.

To start in Fall Semester, 2018.

2 Comments

Research Graduate Student Topics

NASA Funded Research Assistantship on improving effectiveness of Riverscape Consortium Apps for supporting beaver rewilding

beaver for increasing resilience to fire & post-fire recovery

Masters or PhD Student - Diagonal Bar Dynamics

Masters or PhD Student with interest in contributing to beaver ecogeomorhpology

Author

Archives

Categories