Lininger’s project will determine how much organic carbon is stored in river floodplains in soil, vegetation, and downed wood across the United States. It will assess how human activities such as levees, dams, and land use change have changed carbon storage in floodplains (Figure 1). Floodplains store large amounts of carbon, but there are no US-scale estimates of how much carbon floodplains store or how human activities have changed carbon storage. The negative impacts of climate change on the environment and on humans motivate an interest in removing carbon from the atmosphere. Floodplains could store more carbon, but we do not adequately understand the potential for increasing carbon storage through changing how floodplains are managed.  

Through work on the 5-year CAREER award, Lininger will 1) compare floodplain carbon storage in human modified and unmodified floodplains in understudied regions of the USA through extensive fieldwork, 2) use field-based estimates of floodplain carbon storage to determine whether it is accurate to use publicly available geospatial datasets to estimate floodplain carbon storage, 3) determine how much carbon is stored in floodplains across the USA and the potential storage if human modifications (for example, levees, dams, and land use change) were reduced, and 4) create course modules for high school, undergraduate, and graduate students and create outreach materials through collaborations with non-profit organizations. The project will also support training graduate students in communicating science to policy makers and management agencies through interactions with non-profit organizations. Lininger hopes to build the science of floodplain carbon storage to bring information to managers so that it can be considered in river and floodplain management activities. The work will also help determine the locations in the USA and within watersheds where maximum floodplain carbon storage occurs. 

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Professor Katherine Lininger has received an NSF Career Award for her project titled, "Rivers of Carbon: assessing how humans have altered floodplain organic carbon stocks across the contiguous United States.” 

The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program is a Foundation-wide activity that offers the National Science Foundation's most prestigious awards in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization. Activities pursued by early-career faculty should build a firm foundation for a lifetime of leadership in integrating education and research. 

Project Abstract

This project evaluates how much organic carbon is stored in river floodplains in soil, vegetation, and downed wood across large spatial extents. It assesses how human activities such as levees, dams, and land use change have changed carbon storage in floodplains. Floodplains store large amounts of carbon, but there are no large scale estimates of how much carbon floodplains store or how human activities have changed carbon storage in the conterminous United States. The negative impacts of climate change on the environment and humans, motivating an interest in removing carbon from the atmosphere. Floodplains could store more carbon, but the potential for increasing carbon storage through changing how floodplains are managed is unclear. This project provides information to managers to inform floodplain management decisions. This project develops course activities for middle and high school students and trains graduate students in communicating science to policy makers and management agencies through interactions with non-profit organizations.

This project provides a comprehensive estimate of floodplain organic carbon storage across the conterminous United States to determine the impact of human activities on floodplain carbon storage. Recent work has indicated that floodplains likely store more carbon in floodplain soil, vegetation, and downed wood relative to areas outside of floodplains, but there is a lack of information on where and how much carbon is stored in floodplains. This project (1) compares floodplain carbon storage in human modified and unmodified floodplains through extensive fieldwork, (2) uses field-based estimates of floodplain carbon storage to determine whether it is accurate to use publicly available geospatial datasets to estimate floodplain carbon storage, (3) determines how much carbon is stored in floodplains and the potential storage if human modifications (for example, levees, dams, and land use change) were reduced, and (4) creates course modules for high school, undergraduate, and graduate students and disseminates outreach materials for non-profit organizations. The project builds a science of floodplain carbon storage to apply new data and analysis to floodplain management. It also helps determine the locations within watersheds where maximum floodplain carbon storage occurs.

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Dr. Katherine Lininger, Assistant Professor, is a fluvial geomorphologist who studies the interactions between geomorphic (physical) and ecological processes in rivers and floodplains. She is particularly interested in the influence of river and floodplain processes on the flux and storage of organic carbon in floodplain soil and dead, downed large wood. Dr. Lininger also focuses on the interactions between downed large wood, vegetation, and geomorphic processes. She recently received a $407,205 grant from the National Science Foundation titled, "Floodplain ecogeomorphic processes: interactions between floodplain forest characteristics, wood accumulations, and hydrogeomorphology”. Dr. Lininger’s collaborators on the project include Dr. Virginia Ruiz-Villanueva at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, and Jeff Marr at the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory at the University of Minnesota. 

Downed, dead wood on the floodplain and in river channels influences physical processes and provides ecological benefits. For example, wood influences how water flows and where sediment is deposited, creates habitat for biota, and is a source of carbon and nutrients to floodplain soil. Previous work has focused on wood in river channels, but understanding wood dynamics on floodplains is a new frontier in geomorphic research. In addition, numerical modeling of wood transport and deposition has only recently been developed. 

Dr. Lininger and collaborators plan to use scaled physical models of rivers and floodplains (flumes), numerical modelling, and field observations to determine how flooding, floodplain forest stand characteristics, and physical characteristics of rivers and floodplains cause the deposition of wood onto floodplains. Their work will also assess how wood is transported from floodplains back to the river channel. They plan to disseminate their results to management agencies and restoration groups in the US and Europe that are incorporating floodplain wood into efforts to enhance floodplain ecosystem functioning and habitat creation. Dr. Lininger will also develop K-12, undergraduate, and graduate level laboratory assignments and lessons on floodplain dynamics. The grant is supporting the purchase of a stream table, which is a flume that can be used for teaching. Dr. Lininger will use this stream table in physical geography courses, expanding the types of laboratory activities offered in departmental courses. She will also work with ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Science Discovery, an educational outreach organization at ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Boulder, to attend outreach events and develop interactive activities demonstrating river and floodplain dynamics and the important role of wood in creating habitat for biota.

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Professor Katherine Lininger received a $407,205 award from the National Science Foundation titled, "”. Lininger’s collaborators on the project include Dr. Virginia Ruiz-Villanueva at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, and Jeff Marr at the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory at the University of Minnesota. With this support, the group will investigate floodplain dynamics and interactions between wood deposition, floodplain forests, and flooding.

Downed, dead wood on the floodplain influences physical (geomorphic) processes and provides ecological benefits to river corridors. However, understanding the interactions between floodplain vegetation, wood, and hydrogeomorphology is a new frontier in geomorphic research, and numerical modeling of wood transport and deposition has only recently been developed. This project uses scaled physical models of rivers and floodplains (flumes), numerical modelling, and field observations to determine how flooding, forest characteristics, and physical characteristics of rivers and floodplains cause the deposition of wood onto floodplains and subsequent remobilization. The results of the project will be disseminated to management agencies and restoration groups in the US and Europe that are incorporating floodplain wood into efforts to enhance floodplain ecosystem functioning. This project will develop K-12, undergraduate, and graduate level flume laboratory assignments and lessons on floodplain dynamics. Lininger will also work with ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Science Discovery to attend outreach events and develop interactive activities demonstrating river and floodplain dynamics and the important role of wood in creating habitat for biota.

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Waleed Abdalati testified to Congress for the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. 

Waleed Abdalati

On April 15, 2021, Professor Abdalati testified in a hearing held by the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. The hearing was titled “Making the Case for Climate Action: The Growing Risks and Costs of Inaction.”

While Dr. Abdalati spoke to the underlying physical mechanisms of climate change, their current expressions, and future implications, other witnesses included the city manager for Tybee Island in Coastal Georgia, who talked about the challenges they face in confronting sea level rise; a lawyer from Mississippi, who spoke to the ethnic and racial inequities associated with climate change; and an economist, who spoke to the social costs of climate change. 

Dr. Abdalati remarked, "hearing these different perspectives on climate change really drove home the geographic dimensions of climate change in a very powerful way, as well as the critical role that geography serves in meeting these challenges.”

Also see  and 

Holly Barnard

Holly Barnard Awarded Boulder Faculty Excellence in Leadership & Service Award for 2020-2021

Chosen from amongst many excellent nominees, Professor Holly Barnard was selected as a recipient of the BFA Faculty Excellence in Leadership and Service Award this year. 

She was jointly nominated by the Department of Geography and the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR) for her leadership in advancing justice, equity, diversity and inclusion in both units, across the ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ campus, and beyond. In addition, Professor Barnard has also taken on numerous leadership roles in the discipline, through the American Geophysical Union and through her past service as Lead Program Manager for the Hydrological Sciences Program at NSF. 

Additionally, Dr. Barnard was also recently honored for her efforts to promote diversity by the Arts & Sciences Council of the College of A&S.

Emily Yeh Winner of the 2020-2021 Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award

Emily Yeh

Yaffa Truelove

Yaffa Truelove Wins Best Urban Studies Article 2020

The Urban Studies Best Article is awarded by the editors to the authors of the most innovative and agenda-setting article published in a given year. Eleven articles were shortlisted by the editors from those published in print copy in 2020.  is an international journal for research in urban and regional studies.

Dr. Truelove's article, Disambiguating the southern urban critique: Propositions, pathways and possibilities for a more global urban studies, has been voted by the editors as the Urban Studies Best Article for 2020. In agreement with the publisher, SAGE, they will be allowing Open Access to the article on the journal’s website.

Katherine Lininger

Katherine Lininger

Professor Katherine Lininger was part of a team given a ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Outreach Award for the outreach proposal, “ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Restoration Ecology Experimental Learning Program”, by the ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Boulder Outreach Awards Committee. The effort was led by Tim Seastedt, professor emeritus of INSTAAR and EBIO, and also included Professor Sharon Collinge from the Department of Environmental Studies.  The project builds on three years of work, partnering with the non-profit Wildlands Restoration Volunteers (WRV). WRV uses service-learning and education programs to help local youth build relationships with nature. Over 70% of the youth engaged in the program come from low-income, minority, or at risk populations. As a result, underserved youth will have access to the many benefits of a connection to nature and will be able to explore potential careers in environmental sciences and see their own capacity to make a positive impact.

Their team was selected from amongst a very competitive pool of 40 applications. 

Morteza Karimzadeh

Morteza Karimzadeh awarded RIO Seed Grant

Morteza Karimzadeh and Terra McKinnish were awarded the ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ RIO Seed Grant for the project entitled  “Recovering from a Pandemic: Unraveling Neighborhood Geographic Disparities in Consumer and Business Behavior in 2021”.

They will use foot-traffic data to identify business patrons’ residence neighborhoods and the level of recovery in consumption by residents living in those neighborhoods as characterized by different sociodemographic, political and economic conditions.

The 2021 Research & Innovation Seed Grant program resulted in 16 new grants with approximately $700,000 being awarded to ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Boulder faculty across disciplines, with each grant providing up to $50,000 in funding.

Heide Bruckner

MeatOut Day: Heide Bruckner Interviewed on ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Public Radio

In February, word started to get out that Gov. Jared Polis has proclaimed the 20th as MeatOut Day. The day, , is meant to encourage non-vegetarians to consider moving toward a plant-based diet.

Heide Bruckner's research involves the intersections of food and identity. “Meat has always been politicized and meat-eating tied to a lot of perceptions of American identity and masculinity, especially here in the American West,” she said.

Dr. Bruckner favors the idea of a MeatOut Day, as a way to introduce people to the idea that they can reduce the amount of meat in their diet without becoming a full vegetarian.

“There is a large area in between that all-or-nothing approach that we really should explore,” she said. “Realistically, one day isn’t going to radically shift perception, change behaviors or reduce meat consumption. But I do believe it can provide an opening for some to consider the role that meat plays in their diet.”

The governor’s office notes that Polis issues numerous proclamations each year celebrating the state’s agricultural sector, including ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Ag Day, Farm Bureau Day, and Rocky Ford Cantaloupe Day. But that has not stopped the criticism. After word of the proclamation got out, several state Senators spoke out against MeatOut Day on the chamber floor.

John O'Loughlin: Ukrainian Resident’s Divided Views on the Donbas Conflict

John O’Loughlin

On February 12, 2015 the Minsk II accords left the Donbas region territorially divided with the Ukrainian government controlling the western side and two separatist entities controlling the eastern side. O’Loughlin and his research team conducted a survey on both sides and they found drastically different opinions regarding the war in Donbas.

On the eastern side, they found trust in the authorities to be higher among residents; however, on the western side, they found trust in the authorities to be much lower among residents. Their survey also shows that residents disagree on the future status of Donbas as an autonomous region. 

The team also made a research presentation on the results at George Washington University’s  in February; the video of the talk is available on . 

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This year the proposal pool was very competitive. The committee received 40 applications requesting over $$554,000 in funding. Each proposal was read and carefully considered according to the guidelines by each member of the committee, which is comprised of faculty members from a wide range of disciplines and a staff member representing the Office for Outreach and Engagement. The committee then met and deliberated together in order to select the strongest proposals

Outreach awards are made possible by financial contributions from the Office of the Chancellor, the Office of the Provost, and the Division of Continuing Education. The awards are administered by the ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Boulder Office for Outreach and Engagement.

Congratulations to Katherine and the team!

Restoration Ecology and Regenerative Agriculture

The United Nations declared 2021-2030 the Decade of Ecosystem Restoration, and the Society for Ecological Research emphasizes that restoration is the critical tool for creating "net-positive" environmental change.  Our ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ outreach effort embraces this action and has already been active in advocating and conducting science-based ecological research for a number of years.  We envision restoration as something we can do to enhance both mitigation and adaptation to climate change, as well as improve the quality of life within our Front Range communities.  While restoration ecology developed in the response to heal natural areas impacted by human activities and catastrophic events such as ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ and floods, this approach is now also being applied to our agricultural and built environments, where enhancing the quality and abundance of food while generating healthy soils and conservation opportunities are in great demand.

Our project has ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ instructors (faculty, staff, and graduate students) functioning as educators associated with hands-on youth and family restoration efforts. To date, we have partnered with Wildlands Restoration Volunteers, a nonprofit trained in restoration techniques, to conduct meaningful activities for school groups and communities. Our efforts in 2020 focused on natural areas restoration, in particular involved in fuel reduction and wetland enhancement following flooding or termination of agricultural activities in floodplains. We also are developing regenerative agriculture efforts that emphasize soil health and biological diversity.

Our 2020 effort became one that was able to adapt to the restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic.  Because our activities were outdoors and equipment and tools could be sanitized before and after use by individuals, we were able to socially distance and pursue restoration projects.  

Beginning in 2020, our projects expanded to involve agricultural restorations such as planting shrubs and wind breaks to accumulate snow, reduce surface wind erosion and evaporation, and to enhance the abundance and diversity of pollinators.  This work can not only increase local production of desirable foods, but also provide climate benefits by enhancing surface cooling and increasing carbon sequestration into soils.

Our ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ mission is to explain the importance and necessity of these restorative activities as climate change problems intensify.  Stakeholders should know that local efforts such as these can have long-term benefits, and when such activities are undertaken by a large number of communities these effects are measurable at scales that can affect the future climate. In the short-term these same efforts improve the overall health, diversity and sustainability of landscapes and communities. These activities are viewed as a win-win-win program: Individuals enhance their own fitness and well-being, improve the quality of life within the community, and enhance the conservation and ecosystem services value of the natural environment.

ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ restoration ecology outreach activities, summer and fall, 2020.  Planting cottonwoods at Lone Hawk; planting a pollinator garden at Wanaka Lake); Road obliteration and seeding at Thorne Nature Center; Fuel reduction at CalWood; planting at Sandstone Park; Fuel reduction at Eldorado State Park.

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Holly Barnard

Geography professor Holly Barnard is the Principle Investigator and Geography Assistant Professor Katherine Lininger, with Eve-Lyn Hinckley, are the Co-Principle Investigators on a new 5-year $6.9M NSF grant to study the Critical Zone in the American West.

Up to now, Critical Zone Observatories have done a lot of work discovering and quantifying fundamental critical zone processes. But how do those processes integrate and affect each other? That’s the next frontier for critical zone research, and this project jumps right in. The researchers will look at how water, trees, soils, and rocks interact and change each other in the fire- and drought-prone landscapes of the American West. Their discoveries will uncover links between how water is stored in the landscape and how that affects key processes in forest ecology, rock chemistry, and soil chemistry. Further, they will help predict how climate change will modify these interactions and change water and therefore life in the West. They’re going to put a lot of theories to the test.

The Critical-Zone Collaborative Network is an adaptive and responsive research enterprise that supports investigations of the Earth’s surface processes. This network will consist of two components that will work together to advance knowledge, education, and outreach in this convergent science: 1) Thematic Clusters of fixed or temporary locations will conduct basic research on significant, overarching scientific questions concerning the structure, function, and processes of the Critical Zone; 2) a Coordinating Hub that will oversee the compatibility and archiving of the data resulting from the Thematic Clusters, coordinate outreach and community-building activities, support the use of network facilities by outside researchers, and plan for infrastructure needs of the network.

Additional Information:

• Earth Explorers partner school is Westview Middle School in Longmont. See their 
• List of PIs and Institutions:
  • Holly Barnard, Eve-lyn Hinckley, Katherine Lininger: ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Boulder
  • Alexis Navarre-Sitchler, Kamini Singha: ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ School of Mines
  • Li Li: Penn State University
  • Pam Sullivan: Oregon State University
  • Naomi Tague: University of California Santa Barbara
  • Adrian Harpold: University of Nevada Reno
• Federal partners:
  • Sheila Murphy  - USGS (Boulder, CO)
  • Brian Ebel – USGS (Lakewood, CO)
  • Renee Brooks, US EPA (Corvallis, OR)
• Total award (for five years for all academic institutions combined) = $6.9M

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The 2018 Fall Newsletter has been published and is available for viewing. The newsletter is packed with department news, alumni updates, and student and faculty articles. 

• Bill Travis: Message from the Chair, pgs 2-3
• von Dreden Stacey Fellowship Winners, pgs 4-6
• Mark Serreze: Climate Change Becomes Persona (Non Grata), pgs 6-8
• Introducing Caitlin McShane, New Graduate Student, pgs 8-9
• Introducing Katherine Lininger, New Faculty Member, pg 10
• Seth Spielman’s “Double Life”, pg 11
• Mara Goldman: Examining Nature-Society Relations Across Boundaries, pgs 12-13
• A Career in Geography, Dr. Lionel D. Lyles, PhD, 1977, pgs 14-15
• Alumni Updates, pg 16
• Department News, pg 17
• Donor Support, pgs 18-19

All previous newsletters are on our Newsletters page.

For a more enjoyable reading experience, open the newsletter file and adjust your browser window to the same size as the newsletter page. The Table of Contents and other links are active within the document. 

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