Author: paulwric

I am a postdoctoral research hydrologist with the USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station in Arcata, CA. I investigate how landscapes form and change through time. I am particularly interested in how land use influences landscape evolution, which is reflected in my current research with the USDA Forest Service studying fluvial response to timber harvesting at the Caspar Creek Experimental Watersheds in northern California. I am also working on a post-wildfire, meadow restoration project in the Sierra Nevada. My colleagues and I are implementing low-tech, ecologically-focused restoration techniques and carefully monitoring the restoration impacts on sediment transport, surface and groundwater hydrology, and meadow ecology.

I research a wide range of geomorphic, environmental, and hydrologic topics (see my research page or CV) and emphasize field observations and measurements. I have a strong background in numerical landscape evolution modeling and I am currently using a bedload transport model to investigate the bedload transport history at Caspar Creek and the consequences of timber harvesting on transport yields.

I love the West. I grew up in the Pacific Northwest and the Cascades inspired me to study geomorphology. Field observations motivate much of my research and I spend as much time outside as I can justify. I enjoy both research and teaching. I have had great students and learned much from them; I hope that I taught them something too. I have also had great mentors along the way and appreciate their commitment to my education. I look forward to the future knowing that there are as many great questions left to answer as have been answered.