Brian D. Collins
Associate Teaching Professor
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Education I
have Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in geoscience from the
University of Washington and a B.A. in biology from
Oberlin College. Teaching Since
2012,
I have taught classes on rivers (Fluvial Geomorphology,
ESS
426/526, Applied Fluvial Geomorphology, ESS
541), writing (Technical Communication in Applied
Geosciences, ESS
518), and environmental history (Changing Rivers
of Puget Sound, ESS/AIS/ENVIR 310). I
also advise students in the applied geoscience M.S.
degree program (Masters
in Earth and Space Sciences, Applied Geosciences
or "MESSAGe"), an 18-month program that includes
coursework, an internship, and an applied investigation
capstone. Research I
use geomorphology along with environmental history,
ecology, and hydrology to study the interacting
physical, biotic, and human elements of rivers and their
landscapes and how they change through time. Much of my
research has
application to fisheries, forestry, river and watershed
management, environmental restoration, or natural
hazards. Current
projects: (a) colleagues
in
engineering and geoscience and I are seeking to
better understand sediment production, routing, and
channel response and to incorporate that understanding
into improved flood modeling capabilities; (b) I am
working with post-doc Dan
Scott and collaborators at the US Forest Service
to evaluate wood jam dynamics and geomorphic change for
stream restoration; (c) with colleagues in geoscience,
anthropology, and archaeology I am investigating how
traditional and modern land uses have affected soil
erosion, sediment storage, and river channels in SW
Sichuan and, in northern Sichuan, interaction between Holocene
loess deposition, landsliding, and human settlement;
(d) data mining archival sources to reconstruct
historical hydrology, channel geomorphology, and
riverine habitats in the Puget Sound region. Recent
peer-reviewed publications (*student author) Scott, D.N., Collins, B.D. (in press).
Frequent mass
movements from glacial and lahar
terraces, controlled by both hillslope
characteristics and fluvial erosion,
are an important sediment source to Puget
Sound rivers. Water
Resources Research. Harrell, S, Schmidt, A.H., Collins, B.D., Hagmann, R.K., Hinckley, T.M. (in press).
Sunny slopes are good for
grain; shady slopes are good for trees: Nuosu Yi agroforestry
and environmental change in the Cool
Mountains of southwestern Sichuan. In: Miller, I.M., Davis, B.C., Lee, J.S.
(eds.) The
Cultivated
Forest: People and Woodlands in Asian History. Collins,
B.D., *Dickerson-Lange, S.E., *Schanz,
S., *Harrington, S. 2019. Differentiating
the effects of logging, river engineering, and
hydropower dams on flooding in the Skokomish River,
Washington. Geomorphology 332:138-156 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2019.01.021.
(PDF). *Schanz, S.A., Montgomery, D.R., Collins, B.D.
2019. Anthropogenic strath terrace formation caused by
reduced sediment retention. Proceedings of the
American Academy of Sciences (PNAS) https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1814627116.
(PDF) Collins, B.D., Dunne, T. 2019. Thirty years of
tephra erosion following the 1980 eruption of Mount St.
Helens. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.4707.
(PDF) Pfeiffer, A., Collins, B.D., Anderson, S.W.,
Montgomery, D.R., Istanbulluoglu, E. 2019. River bed
elevation variability reflects sediment supply, rather
than peak flows, in the uplands of Washington State. Water
Resources Research https://doi.org/10.1029/2019WR025394.
(PDF) *Schanz S.A, Montgomery D.R.,
Collins B.D., Duvall, A.R. 2018. Multiple paths to
straths: a review and re-assessment of terrace genesis.
Geomorphology 312:12-23 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2018.03.028.
(PDF) Collins, B.D., Montgomery, D.R., *Schanz, S.A.,
*Larsen, I.J. 2016. Rates and mechanisms of bedrock
incision and strath terrace formation in a forested
catchment, Cascade Range, Washington. Geological
Society of America Bulletin 128: 926-943 https://doi.org/10.1130/B31340.1. (PDF) Selected older peer-reviewed publications Collins, B.D., Montgomery, D.R., Fetherston,
K.L., Abbe, T.B. 2012. The floodplain large-wood cycle
hypothesis: a mechanism for the physical and biotic
structuring of temperate forested alluvial valleys in
the North Pacific coastal ecoregion. Geomorphology
139-140: 460-470 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2011.11.011.
(PDF) Collins, B.D., Montgomery, D.R. 2011. The legacy
of Pleistocene glaciation and the organization of
lowland alluvial process domains in the Puget Sound
region. Geomorphology 126: 174-185 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2010.11.002.
(PDF) Stock, J.D., Montgomery, D.R., Collins, B.D.,
Dietrich, W.E., Sklar, L. 2005. Field measurement of
incision rates following bedrock exposure: Implications
for process controls on the long-profiles of valleys cut
by rivers and debris flows. Geological Society of
America Bulletin 117: 174-194 https://doi.org/10.1130/B25560.1.
(PDF) Collins, B.D., Montgomery, D.R., Sheikh, A.J.
2003. Reconstructing the historical riverine landscape
of the Puget Lowland. Pp. 79-128 in: Montgomery, D.R.,
Bolton, S.M., Booth, D.B., Wall, L., eds., Restoration of
Puget Sound Rivers, University of
Washington Press, Seattle, WA. (PDF) Montgomery, D.R.,
Collins, B.D., Buffington, J.M., Abbe, T.B. 2003.
GeomorÂphic effects of wood in rivers. Pp. 21-48 in:
Gregory, S.V., Boyer, K.L., Gurnell, A.M., eds. The Ecology and
Management of Wood in World Rivers. American
Fisheries Society Symposium 37, American
Fisheries Society, Bethesda, MD. (PDF) Collins, B.D., Montgomery, D.R. 2002. Forest
development, wood jams and restoraÂtion of floodplain
rivers in the Puget Lowland. Restoration Ecology
10: 237-247 https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1526-100X.2002.01023.x.
(PDF) Collins, B.D., Montgomery, D.R., Haas A.D. 2002.
Historical changes in the distribuÂtion and functions of
large wood in Puget Lowland rivers. Canadian Journal of
Fisheries & Aquatic Sciences 59:
66-76 https://doi.org/10.1139/f01-199.
(PDF) Collins B.D., Montgomery,
D.R. 2001. Importance of archival and process studies
to characÂterizing pre-settlement riverine geomorphic
processes and habitat in the Puget LowÂland. In:
Dorava, J.M., Palcsak, B., Fitzpatrick, F.,
Montgomery, D.R., eds. Geomorphic
Processes and Riverine Habitat. American
GeoÂphysical UnÂion, Wash., D. C., p. 227-243. https://doi.org/10.1029/WS004p0227. Beechie. T., Collins, B.D., Pess, G. 2001.
Holocene and recent changes to fish habitats in two
Puget Sound basins. In: Dorava, J.M., Palcsak, B.,
Fitzpatrick, F., Montgomery, D.R., eds. Geomorphic Processes and Riverine Habitat. American
GeoÂphysical UnÂion, Wash., D. C., 37-54. https://doi.org/10.1029/WS004p0037
(PDF). Collins, B.D., Pess, G.R. 1997. Evaluation of
forest practices prescriptions from WashingÂton’s
waÂtershed analysis program. Journal of the
American Water Resources Association 33:
969-996. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-1688.1997.tb04118.x. Collins, B.D., Pess, G.R.
1997. Critique of Washington’s watershed analysis
program. JourÂnal of the
American Water Resources Association 33:
997-1010. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-1688.1997.tb04119.x. Collins, B.D., Dunne, T.
1989. Gravel transport, gravel harvestÂing, and
channel-bed degraÂdaÂtion in rivers drainÂing the
southern Olympic Mountains, Washington. Environmental
GeÂolÂogy and Water Sciences 13:
213-224. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01665371 (PDF). Collins, B.D., Dunne, T.
1988. Effects of forest land management on erosion and
revegetaÂtion folÂlowing the 1980 eruption of Mount
St. Helens. Earth
Surface
Processes and LandÂforms 13: 193-205. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.3290130302
(PDF). Collins, B.D., Dunne, T. 1986. Erosion of tephra from the 1980 erupÂtion of Mount St. HelÂens. GeoÂlogical SoÂciety of America BulÂletin 97: 896-905. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1986)97<896:EOTFTE>2.0.CO;2 (PDF). Collins, B.D., Dunne, T.,
Lehre, A.K. 1983. EroÂsion of tephra-covÂered
hillslopes north of Mount St. Helens, Washington, May
1980-May 1981. Zeitschrift fur GeomorÂphologie
46: 103-121. Lehre, A.K., Collins, B.D.,
Dunne, T. 1983. Post-erupÂtion sediment budÂget for
the North Fork Toutle River drainage, June 1980-June
1981, Zeitschrift
fur
Geomorpholgie 46: 143-163.
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