Management of freshwater-coupled human-natural systems

Human livelihoods and ecosystem fates are often linked by water. I have a longstanding interest in the population biology of rivers, and in using theory and methods from computational ecology to understand and manage rivers to sustain aquatic life and nature's benefits to people. I am co-leading a SESYNC working group focused on systems where shallow aquifers link groundwater use to instream flows, leading to tradeoffs between users and potential tipping points.

I am co-leading a SESYNC working group on “Advancing Integrated Process-Based Modeling of Complex Socio-Environmental Systems” focused on systems where shallow aquifers link groundwater use to instream flows. We are developing process-based dynamical system models of shallow aquifers, and linking these to economic and ecological models. This framework will allow us to explore the influence on social and ecological outcomes of both inherent, environmental uncertainty (due to large variability in hydrological inputs) as well as “deep uncertainty” due to endogenous human responses to environmental conditions.

Earlier, in several projects during my Ph.D., I applied concepts and methods from population biology to applied issues in river management and conservation:

IGERT collaborative project on Floodplain management: opportunities, challenges, and successes with collaborators Kelly Graveur, Megan Kelso, Mary Mendoza, and Noam Ross.
Colorado River Class and Grand Canyon trip: “The Changing Colorado River”. Check out some photos

Management of freshwater-coupled human-natural systems

Outputs