Research
My research interests are generally focused on the following:
- Hydrology, hydraulics, and fluvial geomorphology;
- Urban streams, stormwater, and floodplain networks;
- Ecological engineering for aquatic ecosystem restoration: watersheds, streams, wetlands, riparian zones;
- Water-centered planning for sustainability and resilience;
- Watershed management;
- Water quality / quantity interface;
- Sustainable river management including environmental flows that balance human demands and ecosystem needs;
- Floods as drivers of health outcomes in the context of the rapid urbanization;
- Innovative stormwater management practices;
- Diffuse pollution management – nutrients, sediment;
- Hydrologic, hydraulic, sedimentation, and channel evolution modeling in the context of land use and climate changes;
- Highway infrastructure at stream crossings; and
- Fish passage – field studies and computational modeling.
Past and current research topics include:
- Sustainable stormwater management strategies that protect and restore urban stream and floodplain networks for multiple benefits including disaster resiliency, human health, and biodiversity
- Design hydrology methodologies for sustainable highway infrastructure at stream crossings
- Floods as drivers of health outcomes in the context of the rapid urbanization of both human settlements and livestock operations
- Influence of human activities on the structure, function, and health of streams and watersheds
- Understanding and predicting the impacts of land use changes on water quality, stream physical processes, and biotic communities
- Fate and transport of sediment and diffuse pollution in mixed land use watersheds
- Riparian zone processes including vegetation / wood effects on nutrient dynamics, channel morphology and network hydrology
- Restoration and construction of wetlands and riparian zones
- Development of stream, river, and watershed restoration practices that are effective and ecologically-based
- Hierarchical physical classification of streams for improved biomonitoring and water quality management
- Examining the relative sensitivity of various stream types to watershed modifications
- Landscape perspectives for drainage networks and stream ecosystems
- Entropy and energy dissipation in channels and networks
- Innovative stormwater management practices and site design techniques to mitigate the effects of urbanization on channel network stability and ecological integrity
- Quantifying flow regimes that achieve ecological goals in the context of economic constraints
Current Research Projects:
“Design Hydrology for Stream Restoration and Channel Stability at Stream Crossings,” PI, National Cooperative Highway Research Program, Transportation Research Board
“Technical Support for Development of Numeric Flow Criteria to Support Freshwater Bio-objectives, Hydromodification Management, and Nutrient Numeric Endpoints – SCCWRP,” PI, Southern California Coastal Water Research Project
“An Ecohydrological Approach to Managing Intermittent and Ephemeral Streams on Department of Defense Lands,” PI, U. S. Department of Defense and University of Arizona
“Fluvial Instability & Riparian Degradation: Evaluating & Reducing Nutrient Loading from Channel-Riparian Interfaces,” PI, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
“Center for System-Level Optimal Strategies for Nutrient Management (CLEAN),” Co-PI, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency
“Upper Arkansas River Stream Rehabilitation Habitat Comparison and Vegetation Monitoring,” PI, Colorado Parks and Wildlife
“Investigation of the Effects of Whitewater Parks on Aquatic Resources in Colorado: Year 3,” PI, Colorado Water Conservation Board
“National Riparian Protocol Geomorphic Valley Classification Tool Upgrade and NFS Valley Map Product Development,” Co-PI, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service
“Cache la Poudre River Post-Fire Sediment and Aquatic Insect Monitoring,” Co-PI, Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife and City of Fort Collins
“Stream Restoration: A Crucial New BMP Database Module,” Co-PI, Water Environment Research Foundation
Past Research Projects:
“Development of Tools for Hydromodification Assessment and Management,” PI, Southern California Coastal Water Research Project
“Stream Restoration, Ecological Engineering, and Nutrient Retention of Streams in Urban and Agricultural Settings,” PI, National Science Foundation CAREER Award
“Altered Channel Morphology as a Result of Urbanization and Other Land Uses in Watersheds,” PI, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
“Hierarchical Physical Classification of Western Streams: Predicting Biological Condition in Terms of Key Environmental Processes Bridging Local to Ecoregional Scales,” PI, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
“Linking Watershed Characteristics with Flow Regime and Geomorphic Context to Diagnose Water Quality Impairment at Multiple Spatial and Temporal Scales,” Co-PI, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
“Predicting Relative Risk of Establishment and Persistence of Riparian and Aquatic Invasive Species in River Networks,” co-PI, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency
“Protocols for Studying Wet Weather Impact Urbanization,” Co-PI, Water Environment Research Foundation
“Inventory and Assessment of the Colorado River Corridor in Eagle County, Colorado,” PI, Eagle River Watershed Council
“Flushing Flow Quantification – Fraser River, CO,” PI, Colorado Trout Unlimited
“Investigation of the Effects of Whitewater Parks on Aquatic Resources in Colorado: Year 1,” PI, Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife
“Investigation of the Effects of Whitewater Parks on Aquatic Resources in Colorado: Year 2,” PI, Colorado Water Conservation Board
“Investigation of the Effects of Whitewater Parks on Aquatic Resources in Colorado: Year 3,” PI, Colorado Water Conservation Board
“Campbell Valley Monitoring and Restoration Recommendations,” PI, Wildlands Restoration Volunteers
“Upper Arkansas River NRD – Reddy SWA/Crystal Lakes STL Project Design Collaboration and Quality Assurance Review,” PI, Colorado Department of Natural Resources
“Developing Flow Recommendations for Turquoise Reservoir and Establishing Riparian Monitoring Points for the Upper Arkansas River,” Co-PI, Colorado Division of Wildlife
“Stream Geomorphic Assessments and Prioritization of Stream Restoration Projects,” PI, City of Fort Collins
“Upper Arkansas River NRD – Hayden Meadows Project Design Quality Assurance Review,” PI, Colorado Department of Natural Resources
“Field Characterizations of the Hydraulics of Steep Channels,” co-PI, National Science Foundation
“National Riparian Protocol Development,” PI, U. S. Department of Agriculture and U. S. Forest Service
“Mapping Geomorphic Settings in the Colorado River Basin for Environmental Flow Analysis,” PI, CDM Smith
“Review of Water Management Scenarios for the North Fork Poudre River,” Co-PI, The Nature Conservancy
“GeoTools for Rapid Dynamic Channel Analysis and Biological Assessment,” PI, U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation
“Assessing Snow-Making Impacts to Stream Channels,” Co-PI, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service
“Geomorphic Assessment of Fisheries Enhancement Features on the Big Sandy River, Wyoming,” PI, U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation
“Little Snake River Monitoring,” PI, Three Forks Ranch Corporation
“Eagle River Inventory and Assessment,” PI, Eagle River Watershed Council
“Effects of Wet Weather Discharges on the Physical Character of Aquatic Habitat,” Co-PI, Water Environment Research Foundation
“Biocomplexity – Modeling Urban Aquatic Ecology / Hydrologic / Geomorphologic Relationships on Urbanizing Streams in the West,” Co-PI, National Science Foundation
“Vision Paper: River Restoration,” Co-PI, Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of the Hydrologic Sciences, Inc.
“Fate and Transport of Metals and Sediment in Surface Water,” Co-PI, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
“Evaluation of Enhanced Stream Bank Stabilization for Controlling Nutrient Loads in Watersheds,” Co-PI, U. S. Department of Agriculture
“Utilizing Bank Stabilization Structures for Controlling Nitrate and Phosphate Contamination of Ground Water and Surface Water Sources,” Co-PI, Colorado Agricultural Experiment Station
“Demonstration Erosion Control Monitoring,” Co-PI, U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, Waterways Experiment Station