Samantha Lance

Biography

Prior to coming to UCSB, I received my B.A. in Environmental Earth Science from Washington University in St. Louis (Wash U) with a minor in Art History. After spending a year working in environmental consulting in New York City, I moved to Santa Barbara to obtain my MESM (Master of Environmental Science and Management) degree at the Bren School. Currently I am a PhD student in the Geography Department working under the supervision of Vamsi Ganti, studying fluvial geomorphology.

Research

I am a fluvial geomorphologist in the Department of Geography at the University of California, Santa Barbara, advised by Dr. Vamsi Ganti. My research examines how rivers move across their landscapes through the process of river migration. One component of my work focuses on river avulsions, the abrupt diversion of a river into a new channel, where I investigate whether hydrologic factors such as discharge and suspended sediment concentration influence the timing of these events. A second component centers on California, where I use high-resolution aerial imagery to quantify historical rates of river migration and to identify the controls on those rates, including the extent to which dams and levees have altered channel behavior across the state.