The Watershed Geology Lab is dedicated to working on applied earth surface processes and watershed hydrology problems here in California. Many of our problems span different domains in watershed and coastal sciences. Some ongoing projects include: further understanding post-wildfire erosion processes and hazards, understanding the long-term impacts of dam removal on river habitat and flood risk, understanding the kinematic evolution of slow-moving landslides and their ensuing sediment delivery, gully erosion and evolution on disturbed lands, and more... Check out our Research Page and our team members below to learn more!

 

Our lab uses modern survey and hydrology equipment for research-grade data collection. Field gear for student learning and research includes autolevels, rotating laser, prismless total stations, RTK GPS units, photogrammetric UAVs, sontek acoustic dopper velocity profilers, pygmy current meters, Price AA current meters, flow probes, tapes, cross section stakes, Helley-Smith bedload samplers, DH-48 suspended load samplers, bedload sieves and shaker, and USGS modified Parshall flume. The lab is equipped to run suspended sediment samples with a drying oven, freezer, vacuum, gas, glassware, petrographic microscope, precision balances, and three computers for laboratory and field data analysis and geospatial visualization through photogrammetry (agisoft photoscanner), 2D and 3D mapping. Watershed students also have access to ground-based lidar scanners for digital mapping and quantification of geomorphic change in a variety of settings ranging from headwater watershed settings down into coastal systems.