Sharon Bywater-Reyes

Contact Information

Education

• Ph.D.  University of Montana, Geosciences
• M. S.  University of Wyoming, Geology
• B. S.  Southern Oregon University, Geology
• B. A. Southern Oregon University, German

Research/Areas of Interest

I am interested in processes that reshape Earth's surface. I have broad interests in dynamic process-form linkages within the hydrologic-geomorphic system that have implications for society, ecology, and the evolution of landscapes. This led me to investigate the evolution of fluvial deposits influenced by changing tectonic and climatic forcings in the Andes (Bywater-Reyes et al., 2010). In my dissertation research I quantified interactions between riparian vegetation and fluvial processes. My research used field, remote sensing, and numerical techniques to investigate both seedling vulnerability to floods (Bywater-Reyes et al., 2015) and how riparian vegetation engineers channels by changing flow and sediment transport regimes at the bar and reach scales (Bywater-Reyes et al., 2017a).

During my tenure as a postdoctoral scholar, I quantified the spatial and temporal patterns in turbidity and suspended sediment using long-term water quality data. I identified watershed geology as a fundamental control on both overall sediment yields as well as vulnerability to management (Bywater-Reyes et al., 2017b).

Since moving to the Front Range, I am studying river science with a number of projects looking the success of river restoration and influences on water quality. I have ongoing projects on the Little Thomspon River and on the Cache la Poudre River at the River Bluffs Open Space, Poudre Learning Center, and Kingfisher Point Natural Area. Check out all my news stories, here.

Publications/Creative Works

Bywater-Reyes, S., Carrapa, B., Clementz, M., & Schoenbohm, L. (2010). Effect of late Cenozoic aridification on sedimentation in the Eastern Cordillera of northwest Argentina (Angastaco basin). Geology, 38(3), 235-238.

Bywater‐Reyes, S., Wilcox, A. C., Stella, J. C., & Lightbody, A. F. (2015). Flow and scour constraints on uprooting of pioneer woody seedlings. Water Resources Research, 51(11), 9190-9206.

Bywater‐Reyes, S., Wilcox, A. C., & Diehl, R. M. (2017). Multi‐scale influence of woody riparian vegetation on fluvial topography quantified with ground‐based and airborne LiDAR. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface.

Bywater-Reyes, S., Segura, C., & Bladon, K. D. (2017). Geology and geomorphology control suspended sediment yield and modulate increases following timber harvest in temperate headwater streams. Journal of Hydrology, 548, 754-769.

Bywater-Reyes, S., Bladon, K.D., & Segura, C.. (2018). Relative influence of landscape variables and discharge on suspended sediment yields in temperate mountain catchments. Water Resources Research.

Bywater-Reyes, S., Diehl, R.M., & Wilcox, A.C. (2018). The influence of a vegetated bar on channel-bend flow dynamics. Earth Surface Dynamics, 6, 487-503.

Bladon, Kevin & Bywater-Reyes, Sharon & Leboldus, Jared & Keriö, Susanna & Segura, Catalina & Ritóková, Gabriela & Shaw, David. (2019). Increased streamflow in catchments affected by a forest disease epidemic. Science of The Total Environment, 691, 112-123.

Rachels, A. A., Bladon, K. D., Bywater-Reyes, S., & Hatten, J. A. (2020). Quantifying effects of forest harvesting on sources of suspended sediment to an Oregon Coast Range headwater stream. Forest Ecology and Management, 466, 118123.