Columbia and Snake Rivers

Frank J. Magilligan is the Frank J. Reagon ‘09 Chair of Policy Studies, Professor of Geography and Adjunct Professor of Earth Sciences at Dartmouth College. Prof. Magilligan’s teaching and research interests focus primarily on the biophysical and social aspects of watershed management. In particular, his research addresses stream channel and watershed response to environmental change – whether that change is generated by nature (e.g. climate change) or anthropogenic (e.g. agriculture, grazing, or logging) causes. Currently he is focused on the links between channel processes and riparian ecology, especially the role of dams – and their subsequent removal – on aquatic and floodplain ecological integrity. He received a Guggenheim Award to expand this work to examine the intersection of science and politics of river restoration in the United States. He has conducted international field work in the Peruvian Atacama Desert investigating the long-term evolution of El Nino floods and the regional relationship between climate change and cultural history.