Dan Scott, PhD, LG
I’m a fluvial geomorphologist who studies how wood, rocks, water, and living things come together to shape rivers. I then convey that understanding to my clients to help them make decisions about river engineering, habitat restoration and stewardship, and planning. I give clients the scientific understanding they need to navigate the considerable uncertainty posed by dynamic riverscapes and empower them to make decisions that can accomodate the full spectrum of how a river may evolve in the future.
While my educational background is in geology, my work encompasses both the physical aspects of rivers as well as how river ecosystems both shape and respond to their physical environment. I’ve been working on resolving applied questions regarding river management and how rivers work for over a decade, and I’ve found that almost every question I work on requires thinking about physical processes and processes driven by living things.
In addition to consulting, I am also a Research Scientist at Colorado State University, where I study how wood, sediment, water, and biota come together to shape riverscapes. My academic research follows questions I’m asked in consulting and goes beyond to address the knowledge gaps I see limiting river stewardship. Projects include studies on how rivers split themselves around bifurcations, how in-stream wood influences geomorphic change, the dynamics of floodplain connectivity, and how wood gets to, moves through, and deposits within river networks.
I am based in Longmont, CO, but I have studied streams across the Western United States and globally to develop my sense for how rivers shape the land and their ecosystems. I bring to both my scientific research and consulting a deep understanding of the tendencies of rivers and a strong curiosity to learn more about them.
Publications:
Scott, D. N., 2024. Wood Jam Characteristics Influence but Do Not Fully Explain Wood Jam Morphologic Functions. Geomorphica. DOI: 10.59236/geomorphica.v1i1.37
Ockelford, A., Wohl, E., Ruiz‐Villanueva, V., Comiti, F., Piégay, H., Darby, S., Parsons, D., Yochum, S. E., Wolstenholme, J., White, D., Uno, H., Triantafillou, S., Stroth, T., Smrdel, T., Scott, D. N., Scamardo, J. E., Rees, J., Rathburn, S., Morrison, R. R., Milan, D., Marshall, A., Lininger, K. B., Kemper, J. T., Karpack, M., Johaneman, T., Iskin, E., del Hoyo, J. G., Hortobágyi, B., Hinshaw, S., Heath, J., Emmanuel, T., Dunn, S., Christensen, N., Beeby, J., Ash, J., Ader, E., Aarnink, J., 2024. Working with wood in rivers in the Western United States. River Research and Applications. DOI: 10.1002/rra.4331
Scott, D. N., 2024. Widespread Wood Placement and Regrading Drive Lateral Connectivity and Reworking of the Channel and Floodplain in a Valley Bottom Reset to Stage 0. Geomorphology. DOI: 10.1016/j.geomorph.2023.108987
Scott, D. N., 2023. A Primer on the Wood Regime for Stream Management. Coloradosmp.org
Scott, D. N., Shahverdian, S., Flitcroft, R., Wohl, E., 2022. Geomorphic heterogeneity as a framework for assessing river corridor processes and characteristics. River Research and Applications. DOI: 10.1002/rra.4036
Flitcroft, R. L., Brignon, W. R., Staab, B., Bellmore, J. R., Burnett, J., Burns, P., Cluer, B., Giannico, G., Helstab, J. M., Jennings, J., Mayes, C., Mazzacano, C., Mork, L., Meyer, K., Munyon, J., Penaluna, B. E., Powers, P., Scott, D. N., Wondzell, S. M. (2022). Rehabilitating Valley Floors to a Stage 0 Condition: A Synthesis of Opening Outcomes. Frontiers in Environmental Science. DOI: 10.3389/fenvs.2022.892268
Scott, D. N., Collins, B. D., 2021. 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. DOI: 10.1029/2020WR028389
Scott, D. N., Wohl, E. E., 2020. Geomorphology and climate interact to control organic carbon stock and age in mountain river valley bottoms. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms. DOI: 10.1002/esp.4855
Scott, D. N., Wohl, E., Yochum, S. E., 2019, Wood Jam Dynamics Database and Assessment Model (WooDDAM): A framework to measure and understand wood jam characteristics and dynamics. River Research and Applications. DOI: 10.1002/rra.3481
Wohl, E., Kramer, N., Ruiz-Villanueva, V., Scott, D. N., Comiti, F., Gurnell, A. M., Piegay, H., Lininger, K. B., Jaeger, K. L., Walters, D. M., Fausch, K. D., 2019, The Natural Wood Regime in Rivers. BioScience. DOI:10.1093/biosci/biz013
Scott, D. N., Wohl, E. E., 2019. Bedrock fracture influences on geomorphic process and form across process domains and scales. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms (State of Science). DOI: 10.1002/esp.4473
Wohl, E. E., Scott, D. N., Yochum, S. E., 2019. Enhancing the Benefits of Large Wood and Beaver Dams in Stream Corridors. General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-404. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station.
Scott, D. N., Wohl, E. E., 2018. Geomorphic regulation of floodplain soil organic carbon concentration in watersheds of the Rocky and Cascade Mountains, USA. Earth Surface Dynamics. DOI: 10.5194/esurf-6-1101-2018
Scott, D. N., Wohl, E. E., 2018. Natural and Anthropogenic Controls on Wood Loads in River Corridors of the Rocky, Cascade, and Olympic Mountains, USA. Water Resources Research. DOI: 10.1029/2018WR022754
Wohl, E., Scott, D. N., Lininger, K. B., 2018. Spatial distribution of channel and floodplain large wood in forested river corridors of the Northern Rockies. Water Resources Research. DOI: 10.1029/2018WR022750
Wohl, E., Lininger, K., Scott, D. N., 2018. River Beads as a Conceptual Framework for Building Carbon Storage and Resilience to Extreme Climate Events into River Management. Biogeochemistry. DOI: 10.1007/s10533-017-0397-7
Scott, D. N., Wohl, E. E. 2017. Evaluating Carbon Storage on Subalpine Lake Deltas. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms. DOI: 10.1002/esp.4110
Wohl, E., Scott, D. N. 2017. Transience of channel head locations following disturbance. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms Letters to ESEX, 42, 1132-1139. DOI: 10.1002/esp.4124
Wohl, E., Scott, D. N. 2017. Wood and Sediment Dynamics in River Corridors. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms. DOI: 10.1002/esp.3909
Scott, D.N., Brogan, D. J., Schook, D. M., Lininger, K. B., Sparacino, M. S., Daugherty, E. E., Patton, A. I. 2016. Evaluating Survey Instruments and Methods in a Steep Channel. Geomorphology. DOI: 10.1016/j.geomorph.2016.08.020
Scott, D. N., Montgomery, D. R., Wohl, E. E., 2014. Log Step and Clast Interactions in Mountain Streams in the Central Cascade Range of Washington State, USA. Geomorphology. DOI: 10.1016/j.geomorph.2014.04.004
