Graduate Topics

beaver for increasing resilience to fire & post-fire recovery

10/15/2018

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

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Masters or PhD Student - Diagonal Bar Dynamics

1/6/2018

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

October 2018 Update: I floated this last Fall but the stars did not align. I'm going to try and make this one happen this year.

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.

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Masters or PhD Student with interest in contributing to beaver ecogeomorhpology

1/6/2018

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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.

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Research Graduate Student Topics

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

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