At the broadest scale, our group seeks to understand how geology, biota, biogeochemical cycles and earth surface processes interact to shape landscapes, regulate climate, and influence habitat availability and natural hazards. In practice, the majority of research in our group focuses on either understanding the basic processes and mechanisms that control landscape evolution (e.g., bedrock erosion, sediment transport, and sediment deposition), or exploring how geomorphic processes can modulate other geologic processes (e.g., chemical weathering and organic carbon cycling). We answer these questions using any and all tools available to us, including field observations, field monitoring, laboratory experiments, topographic analyses, geochemical analyses, landscape evolution modeling, theory development and more.

Some active and/or recent research themes explored by our group include:

• The topographic form of ridgeline profiles
• The structure of river tributary networks
• Mechanistic controls on waterfall formation and erosion
• The influence of waterfall formation on river long-profile evolution
• Physical controls on shale weathering and petrogenic organic carbon oxidation
• Oxidation and transport of organic carbon in river networks
• Sediment abrasion and the production of fine sediment
• Quantifying uncertainty of incipient motion thresholds in gravel-bedded rivers
• Geoscience education

To learn more about our work, visit the publications page.