Nicole
M. Gasparini
Arizona State University
School of Earth and Space Exploration
PO Box 871404
Tempe, AZ 85287-1404
office: 480-727-6221
email:
nicgaspar@gmail.com
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Evolution of
alluvial and
bedrock river networks; interactions between climate and tectonics
through
erosion; sediment production and transport of sediment from hillslopes
to
rivers; human influences on erosion; management and sustainability of
riverine
environments.
EDUCATION
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
Doctor of Philosophy, Civil and Environmental Engineering, August 2003
Master of
Science, Civil and Environmental Engineering, June 1998
The State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY
Bachelor of Science, Mathematics, May 1995
Bachelor
of Arts, Physical Geography, May
1995
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Arizona State University, School of Earth and Space Exploration, Tempe, AZ
Postdoctoral Researcher, September 2006 – Current
Advisor: Kelin Whipple
- Using digital elevation data, including data collected using ground-based LiDAR, to monitor environmental change. Potential areas of study include Walnut Gulch Study Area, Arizona and the Badlands of Southern Utah.
- Exploring the causes of hanging tributaries and relict surfaces in the Bolivian Andes, South America using digital elevation data and numerical modeling.
Office of Congressman Edward Markey (MA), Washington,
DC
GSA/USGS AAAS Congressional Fellow, September 2005 – August 2006
-Participated in all aspects of science policy in a congressional office. Responsibilities included: legislative oversight; drafting legislation; and interfacing with scientists, lobbying and non-governmental organizations, constituents, the press and other congressional and governmental offices.
-Issue portfolio included science research and education, climate change, water infrastructure, disaster preparedness, nuclear waste, nuclear non-proliferation and human rights.
Yale University, Department of Geology and Geophysics, New
Haven, CT
Bateman Postdoctoral Fellow, October 2003-August 2005
Advisor: Mark Brandon
- Estimated parameters in a power-law incision model using data from the Clearwater River, Olympic Peninsula, Washington and numerically modeled landscapes. These estimates are relevant in determining the role that climate plays on the height and width of mountain belts.
- Explored the effects of variable sediment cover and variable uplift rate on the steepness of rivers.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Parsons
Laboratory, Cambridge, MA
Research Assistant, September 1995–2000 & September 2001-2003
Advisor: Rafael Bras
- Participated in a team software development project to design and implement the CHILD model, a 3-dimensional numerical landscape evolution model. Model includes stochastic rainfall generation, multiple runoff generation mechanisms, lateral channel migration, variable resolution in both space and time, and coupling between erosional and depositional systems.
-Explored the transient response of fluvial networks to changes in uplift/base-level lowering rates and precipitation/erodibility. Numerical simulations considered the role of sediment flux in eroding bedrock channels.
-Modeled erosion and deposition of multiple grain sizes throughout a drainage network over geologic timescales. Numerical simulations produced downstream fining in equilibrium alluvial rivers through selective erosion of grain-sizes, revealing a new possible cause for downstream fining.
University of Buffalo, Geography Department, Buffalo, NY
Research Assistant, Fall 1994
Advisor: Athol Abrahams
-Participated in flume experiments to determine the mean velocity of overland flow.
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
Intern, Summer 1994
Advisor: Ted Engman
-Initialized and modified a hydrologic model to simulate runoff, soil moisture, subsurface flow, and evapotranspiration in a watershed in the Boreal Forest.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Guest Lecturer, Spring 2002
Fluvial Geomorphology and Landscape Evolution - Graduate Class
-Gave one month of lectures, including a computer lab class using MATLAB code to investigate channel profile evolution.
-Lecture topics included soil production and diffusion, landsliding, fluvial sediment transport and erosion in bedrock rivers.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge,
MA
Teaching Assistant, Fall 1997
Hydrology Undergraduate Course
-Led weekly recitation class.
-Designed and graded
weekly problem sets.
University of Buffalo, Minority Education Program, Buffalo, NY
Tutor, Fall 1991-Spring 1995
-Assisted students in
math, physics, chemistry, and statistics.