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Geomorphology Geomorphology is the science that deals with relief features of the earth or of another celestial bodies and looks towards describing and classifying such topographic characteristics. This interdisciplinary subject works within RMRS with such subjects as soil, climate change, road erosion, hydrology, engineering and more.

John Buffington
Research Geomorphologist

See Also: Fire/Fuel

Boise Aquatic Sciences Lab

Interests:

• Fluvial geomorphology

• Watershed processes

• Interactions between physical and biological systems in mountain basins

• Effects of wood debris on channel morphology, hydraulics, and sediment transport

• Basin-scale predictions of salmonid spawning habitat distributions

• Topographically-forced hyporheic flow

• Channel and aquatic habitat response to wildfire

• Mechanics of sediment motion and bedload transport

• Sediment sampling

Geographical Areas: Kootenai River, Montana; Northeastern Oregon; Northern Idaho; Puget Sound.

Interests:

• Modeling effects of spatially varying root strength on the location, frequency and size of shallow landslides

• Mechanistic analyses of the effects of climate change on aquatic physical habitat

• Understanding the responses of hill slopes to channel base level changes

• Quantitative descriptions and analyses of controls on spatial distribution of channel physical habitat

• Development and testing of a new terrestrial-aquatic LIDAR to map and monitor stream habitat

Geographical Areas: South Fork of Eel River, California; South Island, New Zealand.

Dan Isaak
Fisheries Biologist

See Also: Atmospheric Science, Biology, Ecology, Fire/Fuel, Fisheries, and Stream-Riparian Environments

Boise Aquatic Sciences Lab

Interests:

• Biology

• Climate change

• Bull trout monitoring

• Fire

• Brook trout

• Native salmonids

• Cutthroat trout

• Chinook salmon

• LiDAR, stream temperature and geomorphology/climate

Geographical Areas: Central Idaho streams, Interior Columbia River Basin, Snake River.

Charles Luce
Research Hydrologist

See Also: Atmospheric Sciences, Hydrology, Stream-Riparian Environments

Boise Aquatic Sciences Lab

Interests:

• Scaling hydrologic and geomorphic processes

• Snow hydrology

• Watershed hydrology

• Slope stability

• Erosion

• Forest road effects on hydrology

• Stochastic climate simulation

• Slope stability, and erosion

Geographical Areas: Northern Idaho; Interior Columbia River Basin; Boise River Basin.

Sandra Ryan-Burkett
Research Hydrologist

See Also: Hydrology

Fort Collins Forestry Sciences Lab: Aquatic and Riparian

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Interests:

• Geomorphology and sedimentation processes in steep mountain streams

• Assessing methods for measuring bedload, including comparing data collected with different types of samplers and the use of an underwater camera for monitoring bedload movement

Geographical Areas: Sub alpine Environments of Colorado and Wyoming.

Geomorphic controls on salmon nesting patterns described by a new, narrow-beam terrestrial-aquatic lidar

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Hyporheic Exchange in Gravel Bed Rivers with Pool-Riffle Morphology

Linking Hydromorphology to Ecology

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Geomorphology Speciality Group

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USGS Visual Glossary- Geomorphology