Lisa Ely

Lisa Ely

Geomorphology, Quaternary Geology, Natural Hazards

See current CV and Selected Publications.

Research

Dr. Ely has conducted geomorphology field research throughout the western U.S. and in Chile, India and Mexico. Her interests include fluvial geomorphology, stream restoration, paleofloods, Quaternary geology, and other natural hazards.

Her current and recent research projects include:

• Investigating the links between climate change and the frequency of large floods over the last few thousand years in the western U.S.
• River and groundwater responses to stream restoration, large wood, dam removals, engineered channels, managed aquifer recharge
• Landscape effects of outburst floods: glacial lakes, lava dams and landslide dams
• Paleo-tsunami deposits in Chile, India and elsewhere
• Processes and timing of arroyo incision in semi-arid central Washington
• Evolution of bedrock channels in the uplifted volcanic plateau of eastern Oregon
• Applying geomorphology toward environmental settings and preservation of archaeological sites.

Teaching

Dr. Ely teaches undergraduate Geology majors' courses in Geomorphology and an interdisciplinary Regional Natural History field course. She offers graduate and upper-division undergraduate courses in Quaternary Geology, Fluvial Geomorphology, and Field Methods in Environmental Geology. In addition, she is involved in interdisciplinary programs at CWU such as the Science Talent Expansion Program (STEP) and the Environmental Studies Program.

Education

• NSF post-doctoral Fellow, Pennsylvania State University
• PhD, 1992, University of Arizona