Our group is interested in understanding the capacity of freshwater stream systems in California to support restoration or reintroduction of populations of Pacific salmon and steelhead, including prospects for future capacity in a changing climate. We have a research opportunity for a quantitative hydrological or ecological modeler to help us prepare broad-scale datasets for stream systems in California. The candidate would use advanced statistical models, existing hydrologic datasets such as gauging data and NorWest SSN stream layers,  and/or relevant remote sensing data such as NAIP or MODIS to prepare spatially-explicit datasets on stream channel, riparian zone, and/or flow characteristics. Papers given below are from other labs but describe the kinds of methods that we would like to adapt to habitat modeling in California.

Booker, D.J. (2010). "Predicting wetted width in any river at any discharge." Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 35: 828-841.

Dauwalter, D. C., et al. (2015). "Using Aerial Imagery to Characterize Redband Trout Habitat in a Remote Desert Landscape." Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 144(6): 1322-1339.

Pfeiffer, A.M. & Finnegan, N.J. (2016) Basin-scale methods for predicting salmonid spawning habitat via grain size and riffle spacing, tested in a California coastal drainage. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms DOI: 10.1002/esp.4053

Keywords:

Habitat Modeling; Hydrology; Fluvial Geomorphology; Hydrologic Modeling; Quantitative Modeling; Salmonids; Fisheries; River Restoration; Geographic Information System.

Citizenship:  Open to U.S. citizens, permanent residents and non-U.S. citizens

Level:  Open to Postdoctoral and Senior applicants