Dam removal and downstream transport of reservoir sediments create exciting experiments and research opportunities in sediment transport, channel evolution, and habitat response. My group addresses several related questions pertaining to dam removal: How do downstream channels respond to increases in sediment supply, including both short-term increases from downstream transport of reservoir sediments and long-term restoration of supplies from upstream drainage basins? How do pulses of sediment travel through river systems? What are the effective discharges for redistributing reservoir sediments? How do aquatic habitats respond to dam removal?

I participated in the John Wesley Powell Center working group on "Dam removal: Synthesis of ecological and physical responses." This group brought together dam-removal researchers from around the country to synthesize what we have learned from individual dam-removal studies; the effort produced a dam-removal science database and several synthesis papers about the state of dam-removal science.