Our Research Projects

Follow the links below (or to the left) for more information about the three RiverSmart projects:

RiverSmart Communities: Supporting ecologically restorative flood prevention and remediation in New England

A project for New England Communities combining river science with institutional insights for resilient river management.

Farms, Floods, and Fluvial Geomorphology: Making the most of our natural resources

What is the role of farms in floodplains? What resources help farmers before and after floods?  The goal of this project is to promote knowledge about the role of farms in the flood plain, natural fluvial and geomorphological processes, and apply that knowledge to a whole watershed to promote coordinated watershed management.

RiverSmart Communities and Federal Collaborators: Attuning federal agencies and programs with state, regional and local efforts

This project recognizes the significant role federal agencies and programs in flood response and recovery, and undertakes specific workshops and research activities to optimize the partnership between federal agencies and state or local counterparts for the best possible resilient river management in New England.

River Corridor Assessment for the North Atlantic Region

An urgent need exists to uniformly assess river corridors, including floodplains, and to prioritize areas for protection across the North Atlantic landscape. In this project, we will develop a multi-layered river corridor assessment method and conservation prioritization toolkit based on ecologic integrity, geomorphic processes, flood extents in a changing climate, and existing cultural resources.

Floods as Agents of River Restoration

In this project, we study the effects of large floods on rivers and the processes at work when such stresses hit. The investigation aims to show how to help land, ecosystems and communities recover from disturbances such as floods and humans re-arranging streams.