Justin E. Lawrence

Experience

My interest in the outdoor world was sparked at a young age by my father who led my family on annual backpacking trips into Grand Canyon National Park and other places.  During these wonderful years, I was excited about photography and kept a field journal.  My higher education started at the University of Virginia where I received a B.S. in Biochemistry. Go Hoos!  I went on to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mauritania, West Africa.  After I returned from Africa, I re-enrolled at the University of Virginia for a M.S. degree in Environmental Sciences and thus aligned myself more closely with the interests that I had developed as a young boy.  My master's thesis was entitled "Soil-Moisture Variability at Big Meadows, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia".

Doctoral Research

Background

Human development has radically altered the natural hydrologic and geomorphic processes that are integral to maintaining good water-quality.  In northern California, for example, intensive agriculture and urbanization have changed the natural flow-regimes of streams, leading to degraded water-chemistry and reduced biological integrity. Riparian systems in California are less resilient as a result.

Projects

My doctoral research explores how to monitor anthropogenic (human) disturbances to streams.  I focus on disturbances that negatively impact water-quality.  My dissertation projects analyze the impacts of culvert removals on biological communities in the Klamath National Forest, CA, the impacts of vineyard irrigation for frost-protection on benthic macroinvertebrates in Napa County, CA, the impacts of large-wood restoration projects on salmonid populations in Marin County, CA, and the impacts of climate change on bioassessment programs in mediterranean climate regions.

Keywords

biomonitoring; benthic macroinvertebrates; water-quality; hydrology; anthropogenic disturbance; climate change;

Contact Information

Justin E. Lawrence
Dept. of Environmental Science, Policy & Management
University of California, Berkeley
137 Mulford Hall #3114 (Resh Lab)
Berkeley, CA 94720

Phone: 510.642.5913
Fax: 510.642.7428
jlawrence@berkeley.edu

 

For more information, visit my website... http://nature.berkeley.edu/~justin/