My research efforts are divided into several areas of surface processes: the study of stream and river form and process and studies of Quaternary stratigraphy and tectonics as they relate to earthquake hazard, landslides, active folding, and mountain building. River studies focus on: 1) basic river processes associated with channel form, sediment sorting and routing, and sediment budgets; 2) the role of wildfire and the recurrence intervals of high magnitude flood deposits and debris flow deposits; 3) the role of large woody debris and other large roughness elements on channel form and process; 4) environmental effects of channelization; 5) river restoration and management; 6) flood hazard evaluation; and 7) understanding of ecologic factors associated with the habitat for the endangered southern California steelhead trout. This work has been mostly funded by the Water Resources Center at the University of California, Riverside. My research in active tectonics and landslides has centered on the western Transverse Ranges of southern California. The objectives of that research are to: 1) establish the late Pleistocene through Holocene chronology; 2) estimate rates of recent tectonic activity; 3) determine the basic tectonic framework of the western Transverse Ranges; 4) provide a better understanding of mountain-building processes in active fold-and-thrust belts; 5) understand fault and fold growth, particularly lateral propagation; 6) understand the earthquake hazard of the Santa Barbara area; 7) understand the La Conchita landslide hazard; and 8) understand the 2018 Montecito Debris Flow. Funding for active tectonic and landslide studies has come from the U. S. Geological Survey’s Earthquakes Reduction Program, the Southern California Earthquake Center, and the National Science Foundation.

Expert Witness
I have served as an Expert Witness over a period of several decades, mostly on landslide and flood cases
 
Teaching
Earth Surface Processes (Geomorphology)
Rivers (Fluvial Geomorphology)
Coastal Processes   (Coastal Geomorphology)  
Environmental and Engineering Geology
Geology of Yosemite (Field Trip  Course)