Advisor: Ellen Wohl
Email: Katie.Larkin@colostate.edu
Previous Education: B.S. in Geology from Washington & Lee University (2022)
About Me: I am a native of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, but my interest in geology was cultivated in my younger years through trips to Arizona and Utah with my family. Hikes to Water Holes Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, and other places inspired a deep fascination with the erosive power and beauty of water, which continues to (for lack of a better phrase) feed my fire to this day. It wasn’t until college, however, that I was truly exposed to the wonderful world of fluvial geomorphology. In particular, my participation in a project through the Keck Consortium in the Summer of 2021 solidified my desire to get involved in research. Using the data collected for that project, I investigated long-term change in channel morphology and sediment dynamics following a dam removal for my undergraduate thesis. Following my graduation, I worked as a geologist for an environmental consulting firm based out of Virginia, where I was able to build on my field skills through participation in numerous groundwater and soil remediation efforts.
Research: I will be studying installation criteria and efficacy of process-based restoration in wildfire-impacted streams. I will be monitoring a variety of geomorphic and hydrologic parameters before and after the installation of in-channel structures (such as beaver dam analogues, or BDAs) in order to better understand their impacts and restoration potential.