11/7/2025 Research Group Attends the 79th Annual Meeting of the Rocky Mountain Hydrologic Research Center
The research group drove to Boulder, Colorado, to attend the Rocky Mountain Hydrologic Research Center’s annual meeting. Aleah Hahn, who received a scholarship from RMHRC, was an invited speaker and presented. Nicholas Christensen also gave a presentation on his latest work on flood attenuation at network scales. The conference was a great way to connect with other river-focused researchers across the Front Range, and we’ll see them again in 2026!
10/6/2025 Research Group Attends the 7th International Symposium on River Science
Several research group members traveled to UC Davis to attend the International Symposium on River Science. Steve Griffin, Mariah Papac, Nicholas Christensen, Aleah Hahn, and I gave presentations on topics ranging from flood attenuation at network scales to the role of beavers in improving floodplain connectivity. The symposium was a great chance to reconnect with river scientists from around the world. The next ISRS conference will be held in Cape Town, South Africa in 2027!
9/10/2025 Aleah Hahn Receives Scholarships to Support Data Extension and Dissemination
Aleah Hahn recently received two scholarships. The first is is a Rocky Mountain Hydrologic Research Center (RMHRC) Supplemental Research Funding award. The funds will support expanding Aleah’s dataset to examine if her findings about log jams could extend to differently sized rivers across Colorado.
09/08/2025 Congratulations, Kayla Schultz and Brady Jones!
One June 10, Kayla successfully passed her MS defense in a packed room of friends, family, and collaborators. In her research, Kayla studied three headwater tributary sites in the Kawuneeche Valley in Rocky Mountain National Park to observe the impacts of the loss of beaver dams on floodplain connectivity.
And on August 26, Brady successfully passed his MS defense on using low-technology process-based restoration (LTPBR) to reestablish natural riverine processes post-wildfire. He studied Elkhorn Creek, the headwaters of the Cache la Poudre River, to quantify the affects of LTPBR on sediment accumulation and groundwater storage.
04/15/2025 New Earth Surface Processes and Landforms Paper on River-Floodplain Morphology Post-Wildfire
Check out this new Earth Surface Processes and Landforms paper, with contributions by students Aleah Hahn and Nicholas Christensen and former student Danny White. This paper examines how river beads enhance river-floodplain resilience after large disturbances like wildfires and highlights the role river beads play in preservation and restoration.
11/15/2024 New Bioscience Paper on River Resilience
Check out this new Bioscience paper led by Ellen Wohl that describes how we can restore our rivers to be more resilient! This paper was fun to write with the terrific co-authors Kirstie Fryirs, Bob Grabowski, and David Sear.
11/08/2024 Congratulations Bijoux Schoner!
Bijoux successfully passed her MS defense today in packed room of friends, family, and collaborators! In her research, Bijoux worked with the City of Fort Collins and Stillwater Sciences, Inc. to monitor the fluvial geomorphic impacts of a stream restoration project that included large wood on the Poudre River in Fort Collins.
09/25/2023 Congratulations Dr. Danny White!
Danny successfully passed his PhD oral exam! He gave an excellent presentation on his research titled, “Experimental Flume and Numerical Studies into the Influence of Floodplain Vegetation on River-Corridor Hydrodynamic Processes”. Congratulations, Dr. White!
09/21/2023 Floodplain Vegetation Influences Channel Bedforms
Our new paper describing the impacts of floodplain vegetation on sediment transport and channel bedforms has been published in JGR: Earth Surface. Danny White led this paper based on his major efforts to collect experimental flume data. More results from Danny’s experiments are forthcoming!
09/01/2023 Matt Lurtz and Dixie Lin Poteet Complete Graduate Exams
Congratulations to Matt Lurtz (PhD) and Dixie Lin Poteet (MS) for successfully passing their graduate defense exams! Both have worked extremely hard during the past few years to get to this point. Matt studied the impacts of groundwater return flows on riparian vegetation evapotranspiration, and Dixie studied the impacts of new stormwater management techniques on semi-arid stream conditions. Congrats to both Matt and Dixie!
07/28/2023 Nick Christensen Awarded Fellowship/Scholarships
Nick Christensen was recently awarded two competitive funding awards. First, Nick is a new 2023 Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center Natural Resource Workforce Development Fellow. Second, Nick is a recipient of a 2023 Colorado Riparian Association scholarship. Both awards are linked to Nick’s research on the impact of floodplain restoration/conservation on flood attenuation and watershed resilience. Congrats, Nick!
03/20/2023 Graduate Students Present at AGU Hydrology Days
Nick Christensen, Dixie Lin Poteet, Jack Derbique, and Evan Schulz will be presenting at AGU Hydrology Days between March 21-22. Please be sure to check out their great work if you plan to attend Hydrology Days this year. Congrats, Nick, Dixie, Jack, and Evan!
03/06/2023 Hot off the press! Impacts of Climate Change on Greenback Cutthroat Trout Habitat
Congratulations to Chenchen Ma (former MS student) on the publication of her MS thesis! In her research, Chenchen evaluated the impact of reduced flows due to climate change on habitat availability for endangered Greenback Cutthroat Trout. This paper is published in River Research and Applications (https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.4122). This was a collaborative study with great folks from the USGS and CSU, including James Roberts (USGS), Yoichiro Kanno (CSU) and Danny White (CSU).
03/01/2023 New NSF Award to Study Large Wood in Rivers
Dr. Ellen Wohl (PI) and I (co-PI) have been awarded a new NSF grant to study the role of channel-spanning large wood jams in river corridors. This work will be used to improve our understanding of how large wood promotes morphologic and hydrologic changes in rivers with implications for better restoration design.