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Graduate Stucents
>> Burch Fischer

>> Maiana Hanshaw

>> John Potapenko

>> Jessica Thompson

>> Hendrik Wulf

>> Stephanie Olen

>> Nishant Malik


Past Graduate Stucents
>> Ryan Perroy

>> Dirk Scherler


Visiting Postdoctoral Researchers and Graduate Stucents
>> Ines Krauss

>> Cholponbek Ormukov



Graduate Students

Burch Fisher burch@eri.ucsb.edu or webpage
My research focuses broadly on quantifying the linkages between climate and tectonics through the use of remotely sensed, geochemical, field, and numerical proxies of erosion. I am currently working in the Himalaya on spatial and temporal linkages between climate and tectonics as well as in southern California on constraining channel head initiation processes using high-resolution terrestrial LiDAR. Feel free to contact me with any questions.

Maiana Hanshaw maiana.hanshaw@geog.ucsb.edu or webpage
My research revolves around remote sensing of glaciers in the Andes. I am currently using optical remote sensing imagery to map glacial and lake area changes in the Peruvian and Bolivian Andes over the period 1985 to the present. Glacial meltwater is highly depended upon by populations living at the base of the Andes, and it is important to constrain glacial advance and retreat in this region to better understand glacial changes and consequences due to climate change. Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

John Potapenko potapenko@geog.ucsb.edu or webpage
My current interests broadly involve using remote sensing and a range of computational techniques to measure and explain the interplay of various geomorphological, ecological, and climatic processes. Current and future research projects include applying terrestrial and airborne lidar to study erosion, sediment-mass transport, and landscape evolution in the Santa Ynez mountains by looking at a combination of climatic and ecological variables. Another research area is applying active and passive remote sensing to study glacial advance and retreat.

Hendrik Wulf hendrik.wulf@uni-potsdam.de or webpage
My study area is located in the Sutlej-River Valley in the western Himalaya (northern India). The Sutlej River transects the Himalaya and is exposed to a six-fold rainfall gradient caused by the orographic barrier of the main Himalayan mountain chain. I am studying the complex influence of different climatic conditions on erosion. During my thesis, I focus on quantifying modern erosion rates (covering the last few decades) by analyzes of precipitation records, river- and sediment discharge.

Stephanie Olen olen@uni-potsdam.de or webpage
I am interested in how patterns and rates of erosion change in glaciated mountain belts as a function of climate variability. To investigate this, I am working in the Arun Valley in eastern Nepal. The Arun River is one of the largest rivers in Nepal and creates a natural, north-south transect through all major units of the Himalaya. High rates of precipitation in the valley are fueled by the Indian Summer Monsoon and fall on a two-step orographic gradient. I am using cosmogenic radio nuclides (10Be) to quantify erosion rates across this precipitation gradient from modern river sands and fluvial terraces. Additionally, I will use chemical fingerprinting to look at changes in the source area of sediment over glacial/inter-glacial timescales.

Past Graduate Students
Ryan Perroy rperroy@uwlax.edu or webpage
Ryan is an Assistant Professor at UW at Lacrosse, WI.
In his dissertation research, Ryan examined past and ongoing changes in landcover and geomorphology on Santa Cruz Island. Goals included a better understanding of hillslope processes under different management regimes, quantification of sediment movement through a combination of field, remote sensing, and cosmogenic radionuclide measurements, and a better understanding of the controlling factors for land degradation and recovery processes. Other research topics include mapping invasive vegetation species using phenological spectral signatures, mapping heavy metal pollution in soils, and bioremediation.

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Dirk Scherler dirk@geo.uni-potsdam.de or webpage
Dirk is a postdoctoral researcher at Potsdam University.

Visiting Postdoctoral Researcher and Graduate Students