Sarah Yarnell, Ph.D., Associate Professional Researcher at the Center for Watershed Sciences, University of California – Davis
Sarah is an Associate Professional Researcher at the Center for Watershed Sciences. Her studies focus on integrating the traditional fields of hydrology, ecology and geomorphology in the river environment. She is currently conducting research that applies understanding of river ecosystem processes to managed systems in the Sierra Nevada, with a focus on the development and maintenance of riverine habitat. She is a recognized expert in the ecology of the Foothill yellow-legged frog (Rana boylii), a California species of special concern that is listed as threatened in some regions, and she was the first researcher to apply sediment transport and two-dimensional hydrodynamic modeling techniques to the evaluation of instream amphibian habitat.
Her experience includes consultation as a technical expert for various hydroelectric power relicensing projects, where she has worked closely with government resource agencies and the private sector to assess the impacts of environmental flows on aquatic biota and provide recommendations for developing flows that improve the functioning of river ecosystems. She is currently working with colleagues to apply a Functional Flows approach to the development of environmental flow criteria throughout the state. In recent years, her research experience has expanded to include evaluation and restoration of headwater systems, particularly montane meadows in the Sierra Nevada and Cascade ranges. Throughout her time at CWS, she has co-taught field-based river courses, such as Ecogeomorphology, and she teaches as a part-time lecturer for the Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences. She is a member of the Hydrologic Sciences Graduate Group and finds working with students to be one of the highlights of her job.
2024 Science Symposium Presentation
Adaptively Managing a Functional Flow regime in California.
Day 3 of the Trinity River Restoration Program Science Symposium covered Physical Channel Form. Listen in as Sarah Yarnell, Ph.D., Associate Professional Researcher at the Center for Watershed Sciences, University of California – Davis gives her presentation titled, “Adaptively Managing a Functional Flow regime in California.“