Riverscapes Lab
Department of Geography & Sustainability
The University of Tennessee - Knoxville
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About Us
About Us
We are a group of interdisciplinary researchers with a shared interest in how the natural world functions and how humans engage with that world, as revealed in riverscapes. We consider riverscapes to be the dynamic and interconnected landscapes surrounding rivers, and the framework through which our scholarship with various communities and environments flow. We utilize field, remote sensing, and modeling methods in our research to answer questions across broad spatial and temporal scales. Our work is rooted firmly in place, curiosity, and broader engagement through applied and collaborative research that can be communicated across audiences.
News
News
August 2025: A warm welcome to Rae Tennent (M.S.) in joining the Riverscapes Lab!
July 2025: The Riverscape Lab is teaming up with the Fisheries and Aquatic Conservation Ecology (FACE) Lab to monitor ecosystem response pre and post dam removal in the Cherokee National Forest, through funding from UT's Institute for Energy and Environment.
June 2025: Lab members were featured in the UT Spring publication of Higher Ground, recognized for our work using field and UAV methods to collaborate with partners at the National Forest Service and National Park Service to answer research questions. Check that article out here: Boots on the Ground, Drones in the Air - College of Arts and Sciences
May 2025: The end of the semester means our summer field season has officially started! Check out our lab photos for a sneak peak of what we are up to this summer!
April 2025: Our lab members have been recognized this month for all their great work this year. Ella Saunders placed 1st in the TNView remote sensing competition at the Tennessee Geographic Information Conference, won a TNView remote sensing fellowship, and was awarded the Ralston Geospatial Achievement Award at the Department of Geography & Sustainability Awards Ceremony for her post-Hurricane Helene work in the Cataloochee catchment of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Hope Hutchinson received both the 2025 Volunteer of Distinction Award and the Outstanding Outreach Award in Geography at the Department of Geography & Sustainability Awards Ceremony!
January 2025: Hope Hutchinson (M.S.) and Ella Saunders (B.S.) both joined the Riverscapes Lab! Hope will be working on a master's project exploring floodplain connectivity and river response to wood augmentation in the Cherokee National Forest. Ella will be working as an undergraduate Department Research Assistant exploring catchment response to Hurricane Helene in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
December 2024: Our research group was awarded funding from The Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency (Tallassee Fund) to monitor restoration within the Cherokee National Forest. We'll work with our partners at the Forest Service to quantify river response to dam removal and wood loading restoration projects.
November 2024: Through a new NSF RAPID grant, we're studying the biophysical response of headwater catchments in Southern Appalachia to recent extreme flooding and landslides associated with Hurricane Helene.
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