Katherine Lininger

Research Interests

Rivers integrate the landscape, carrying and depositing water, sediment, large wood, carbon, and nutrients. My research is focused on river and floodplain dynamics and the interactions between geomorphic processes and ecological processes. I am particularly interested in the influence of river and floodplain processes on the flux and storage of organic carbon in floodplain soil and large wood; interactions between downed large wood, vegetation, and geomorphic processes; river and floodplain dynamics in the Sub-Arctic and Arctic; and coupled natural-human systems research related to rivers. Much of my research has been focused on large floodplain rivers, and I incorporate fieldwork, statistical modeling, and remote sensing methods into my work.

Recent Courses Taught

• Spring 2025  GEOG 5161-002  Research and Design in Geography
• Fall 2024  GEOG/GEOL 4241  Earth Surface Processes
• Fall 2024  GEOG 5241  Topics/Physical Geography: Fluvial Geomorphology
• Spring 2024  GEOG 5161  Research and Design in Geography
• Fall 2023  GEOG/GEOL 4241  Principles of Geomorphology
• Fall 2023  GEOG 5241  Topics/Physical Geography: Fluvial Geomorphology
• Fall 2022  GEOG/GEOL 4241  Principles of Geomorphology
• Fall 2022  GEOG 5241  Topics/Physical Geography: Fluvial Geomorphology
• Fall 2021  GEOG 1011  Environmental Systems: Landscapes and Water
• Fall 2021  GEOG/GEOL 4241  Principles of Geomorphology
• Spring 2021  GEOG 1011  Environmental Systems: Landscapes and Water
• Spring 2020  GEOG 1011  Environmental Systems: Landscapes and Water
• Spring 2020  GEOG 5241  Topics/Physical Geography: Fluvial Geomorphology

Recent Publications

Lininger, K. B., & Lave, R. (2024). River restoration can increase carbon storage but is not yet a suitable basis for carbon credits. BioScience, biae083. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biae083

Cathcart, C.N., Falke, J.A., Fox, J., Henszey, R., and Lininger, K. B. (2024). Multiscale processes drive formation of logjam habitats and use by juvenile Chinook salmon across a boreal stream network in Alaska, River Research and Applications.

Rees, J. C., Lininger, K. B., Landis, J. D., & Briles, C. E. (2024). Assessing controls on sedimentation rates and sediment organic carbon accretion in beaver ponds. Science of The Total Environment, 949, 174951. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174951

Ockelford, A., Wohl, E., Ruiz-Villanueva, V., Comiti, F., Piegay, H., Parsons, D., Darby, S.,…..Lininger, K. B.,….et al., (2024) Working with Wood in Rivers in the Western United States, River Research and Applications.https://doi-org.colorado.idm.oclc.org/10.1002/rra.4331

Johaneman, T. M., Lininger, K. B., Schook, D. M., Pitlick, J., & Martin, M. (2023). The Influence of Knickpoint Development and Channel Incision on Riparian Vegetation in Semi-Arid River Corridors. Water Resources Research, 59(10), e2023WR034872. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023WR034872

Fogel, C. B., & Lininger, K. B. (2023). Geomorphic complexity influences coarse particulate organic matter transport and storage in headwater streams. Frontiers in Water, 5, 1227167. https://doi.org/10.3389/frwa.2023.1227167

Hwang, K., Harpold, A., Tague, C., Lowman, L., Boisramé, G., Lininger, K.B., Sullivan, P.L., Manning, A., Graup, L., Litvak, M., Lewis, G., Miller, K., Brooks, P., and Barnard, H. (2023). Seeing the Disturbed Forest for the Trees: Remote Sensing Is Underutilized to Quantify Critical Zone Response to Unprecedented Disturbance. Earth’s Future, 11(8), e2022EF003314. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022EF003314

Lininger, K. B., & Hilton, S. (2022). Large Wood in Small Channels: A 20-Year Study of Budgets and Piece Mobility in Two Redwood Streams. Water Resources Research, 58(11), e2022WR033047. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022WR033047

Guiney, M. R., & Lininger, K. B. (2022). Disturbance and valley confinement: Controls on floodplain large wood and organic matter jam deposition in the Colorado Front Range, USA. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 47(6), 1371–1389. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.5321

Lininger, K. B., Rowan, A. V., Livers, B., Kramer, N., Ruiz-Villanueva, V., Sendrowski, A., & Burrough, S. (2021). Perspectives on being a field-based geomorphologist during pregnancy and early motherhood. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 46(14), 2767–2772. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.5238

Lininger, K. B., Scamardo, J. E., & Guiney*, M. R. (2021). Floodplain Large Wood and Organic Matter Jam Formation After a Large Flood: Investigating the Influence of Floodplain Forest Stand Characteristics and River Corridor Morphology. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 126(6), e2020JF006011. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JF006011