As an associate professor of Environmental Geoscience at the University of Northern Colorado, Dr. Bywater-Reyes studies and teaches about rivers and Earth surface processes. She received her Bachelor’s Degrees in Geology and German from Southern Oregon University, Master’s Degree in Geology from the University of Wyoming, and PhD in Geosciences from the University of Montana. Her research is multifaceted, considering interactions among geology, hydrology, geomorphology, biota, and disturbances. Using field, remote sensing, experimental, and numerical approaches she studies: 1) controls on water quantity and quality; 2) natural and anthropogenic controls on sediment routing; and 3) controls on river form and function. She teaches introductory geology, hydrology, soils, and geomorphology. In her spare time, she likes to spend time outside, with her family, exercising, and crafting.
Abstract
The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: Lessons Learned from Colorado River Restoration Projects
The river restoration industry is a multi-billion dollar industry, yet little to no standard exists in project implementation and monitoring requirements. This leads to a wide array of design approaches and little to no long-term assessment of project outcomes. In her talk, Dr. Bywater-Reyes uses Good, Bad, and Ugly examples of projects recently implemented along the Front Range of Colorado that she and her research team have been investigating in the past several years. She will walk the attendees through these examples and what she considers guiding principles of best management practices in both implementation and monitoring. She will highlight takeaways and lessons learned using an interdisciplinary approach that uses components of engineering, ecology, and geomorphology.