The Berkeley Earth Surface Dynamics (ESD) group is working together to understand how landscapes form and evolve. Current members and active research areas include:

Postdoctoral Researchers

Tianran Zhang (joining July 2025) – permafrost stratigraphy and paleoclimate records, carbonate flume experiments

Graduate Students

Colin Baciocco – formation of thermoerosional gullies in permafrost

Brooke Newell – debris flow transport of environmentally persistent free radicals following the Eaton Fire

Undergraduate Students

Holden Sokey – evaluating potential stream captures along the Eel and Russian Rivers

Past members

Sam Lockhart – now doing a PhD at Northern Arizona University

Laboratory Facilities

Camsizer 3D, Mastersizer 3000 with VisionPro – sediment size and shape analysis from clay through 3 mm diameter

Big blue flume – 28 m long, currently being restored and having an ice rink chiller added

Wooden flume – 4.5 m long, 30 cm wide, run with pumps and sediment feed

Debris flow wheel – 4 m diameter rotating drum

Field equipment – RTK GPS, Faro terrestrial lidar scanner, ADV, Mavic 3E and thermal drones

Interested in collaborating?

If you are interested in developing an experiment, collaborating on fieldwork, or making grain size measurements feel free to reach out to me. Lab group members have priority on facilities and equipment, but researchers at Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, and around the Bay Area are welcome to collaborate!

Interested in joining the lab?

I am currently recruiting undergraduate and graduate students as well as postdocs to join the Berkeley Earth Surface Dynamics lab. Right now, I am developing projects that will include fieldwork in the Arctic, flume experiments, computational modeling, and collaborations with geochemists and geobiologists. I am looking to recruit a lab group with diverse identities and life experiences to tackle interdisciplinary scientific problems.

Postdocs should be ready to conduct scientific research and writing as an independent scholar, as demonstrated by at least one published paper from their PhD. I am particularly excited to work with researchers who bring new expertise, techniques, and perspectives to the group. Postdocs may be asked to assist in applying for funding to cover their research, such as applying for the Miller Institute prize postdoctoral fellowship, NSF postdoctoral fellowship, or writing a section of a grant.

Graduate students applying to the program should have mathematics coursework through at least multivariable calculus, programming experience, and coursework in geology and/or fluid dynamics and mechanics.

Undergraduate students interested in joining the lab should first enroll in EPS 117: Geomorphology or EPS 127: Coastal Geomorphology to have a foundation in surface processes and get to know the types of problems that we tackle. If you are interested in pursuing research, meet with me at office hours, on field trips, and around the department to discuss how you can get involved! Preference for research opportunities will generally be given to Berkeley students who have or intend to declare Earth and Planetary Science as a major.

Most important, all undergraduates, graduate students, and postdocs must have a strong curiosity about the natural world and drive to understand it! If you are interested in joining the lab, please read through the material on the EPS website to determine if the department is a good fit for you, then reach out to me directly at mmdouglas@berkeley.edu with a copy of your resume/cv.