Affiliate Faculty, Assistant Professor of Earth Science

Phone: 603-862-0711
Fax: 603-862-2649
E-mail: anne.lightbody@unh.edu

University of New Hampshire
Department of Earth Sciences
James Hall Room 236
56 College Road
Durham, NH 03824

My research focuses on flow and transport within surface water systems, including rivers, streams, lakes, fresh-water wetlands, and salt-water marshes. I am particularly interested in coupling improved understanding of small-scale physical processes pertaining to turbulent boundary layers and aquatic canopies to larger scale modeling and prediction. This work is fundamental yet also has clear applications, reaching into real-world management issues including stream restoration, constructed treatment wetland design, aquaculture, and suspended sediment pollution control. In addition, it is at the interface of hydrology and a wide variety of other disciplines, including fluid mechanics, geomorphology, ecology, water resources, and oceanography.

Courses Taught

• ESci 705/805 Principles of Hydrology, Fall 2010
• ESci 534, Fate and Transport in the Environment, Spring 2010

Student Opportunity

I am currently seeking a graduate student in Natural Resources and Earth Systems Science or Civil Engineering to start in Spring or Summer 2011 to examine feedbacks between fluvial morphodynamics and pioneer riparian vegetation in sand-bed rivers. This project will couple laboratory experiments, field investigations, and numerical modeling of vegetation, flow, and sediment interactions to develop a mechanistic and predictive understanding of feedbacks at nested spatial scales ranging from individual plants to channel reaches. Please contact me for more information or if you are interested in applying.

Selected Publications