About
EPSP Connects is a monthly seminar series that alternates between EPSP-related science talks and professional development panels. All events are held virtually via either Zoom, are open to all and free, and are typically held on the second or third Wednesday of the month. While we've launched EPSP Connects during the Covid 19 pandemic, we intend to continue these seminars on a monthly basis into whatever new normal emerges.
Each event requires advanced registration so we can provide a secure online environment for talks. Select science talks and panels will be made available online at the discretion of the presenters. The AGU Meeting Code of Conduct applies to this virtual meeting space . There will be zero tolerance for violations of this code. Violations will result in immediate ejection from the seminar, a filed report with AGU, and a ban from all future EPSP Connects events.
Upcoming Seminars
(All seminars at 08:00 San Francisco, 11:00 New York, 17:00 Berlin, 23:00 Beijing. In the event of confusion, Pacific Standard/Daylight Time holds, check your local time relative to PST/PDT here)
May 21st, 2025
A Science Talk by Dr. Roeland C. van de Vijsel (Wageningen University, The Netherlands):
"Nonlinear dynamics in river-, tide-, and wave-dominated ecosystems".
Self-reinforcing feedbacks – such as those between water flow, morphology, and vegetation dynamics – can cause rapid and poorly reversible shifts in rivers, deltas, and coastal systems. In this talk, I will review key examples and mechanisms of such tipping points, followed by a discussion of how climate and land-use changes may affect the likelihood of regime shifts in river deltas around the world. The risk of rapid state shifts emphasizes the need for early warning indicators and strategies to prevent or reverse system degradation. I will present examples of such strategies, including remote sensing of tidal wetland resilience, the use of self-organization processes to protect wave-exposed coastlines, and the manipulation of flow and bedforms to reduce turbidity and flood risks in estuaries. A better understanding of the self-reinforcing feedbacks governing such systems will help increase their resilience under global change.
You can register here for the Science Talk.
Dr. Roeland C. van de Vijsel is an Assistant Professor in the Hydrology and Environmental Hydraulics Group at Wageningen University. His research focuses on nonlinear dynamics – such as self-organization and critical transitions – that emerge from feedbacks between hydrodynamics, sediment dynamics, and ecology. Although trained in physical oceanography, his scientific interests have gradually expanded coastward and upstream to now include wave-exposed seagrasses, tidal wetlands, and fluvial bedforms.
Past Events and Additional Webinars
April 2025: A science talk by Dr. Eliisa Lotsari (Aalto University, Finland) titled: "The evolution and material transport of seasonally frozen high-latitude rivers"
February 2025: A science talk by Safiya Alpheus (Exxon Mobil) titled: "Multi-variate controls on bed turnover in braided rivers: modern insights on ancient questions"
January 2025: A presentation by members of the Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) team talk from David Callery (USFS Hydrologist and BAER member) and Cara Sponaugle (USFS Hydorlogist and BAER member). The BAER team is a collection of hydrologists, soil scientists, engineers, biologists, and ecologists that are the first on the scene following wildfire to evaluate the potential for post-fire hazards and make recommendations for treatment. As such, they have a unique experience and insight into the challenges, needs, and science of wildfires and fire-related research.
Federal directives instructing agencies to cancel any external presentations for several weeks came into effect the day before our event. As a result, the EPSP-Connects event for Wednesday January 29th, was canceled. We hope to reschedule this event in the future.
November 2024: A science talk from Arvind Singh (University of Central Florida), titled Connectivity in patterns and processes of river networks across scales.
October 2024: A science talk from Catherine Russel on Sedimentological Insights into Improving Contemporary Environmental Assessment.
September 2024: A panel on Diamond Open Access journals (free to publish, free to read) with colleagues from Volcanica, Tektonika, Geomorphica, Seismica, The Sedimentary Record, Sedimentologika, Geodynamica, and Advances in Geochemistry discussing the role of Diamond Open Access in the publishing landscape.
August 2024: A science talk from Eitan Shelef (University of Pittsburgh), titled Moving Drainage Divides, Evolving Cliffs, and Changing Climate.
June 2024: A panel on "Careers Beyond the Tenure Track" featuring panelists Dr. Kathleen Rodrigues (Assistant Research Professor, Desert Research Institute), Dr. Dimitrios Fytanidis (Computational Climate Scientist, Argonne National Laboratory), Dr. Kate Leary (Water Education Program Manager, NM Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources), and Dr. Gunter Leguy (Project Scientist II, UCAR/NCAR).
May 2024: A science talk from from Jon Major (USGS) titled "Volcanic processes and geomorphic effects—exceptional and sometimes long-lasting landscape and societal impacts."
April 2024: Science talks from Joanmarie Del Vecchio (Satellites reveal dynamics of changing permafrost landscapes) and Matthew Morriss (Alpine hillslope failure in the western US: insights from the Chaos Canyon landslide, Rocky Mountain National Park, USA ).
March 2024: A science talk from Anastasia Piliouras (Penn State University) titled "Unique characteristics of high-latitude deltas as coastal conduits for land-ocean fluxes"
February 2024: A science talk from Zi Wu (Tsinghua University) titled "Transport of active and passive particles across scales"
October 2023: A science talk from Evan Dethier (Occidental College) titled "The global footprint of a 21st century mining boom in rivers: changes to landscapes and rivers across the topics"
September 2023: A science talk from Chenge An (Tsinghua University) titled "Foreland river degradation after a massive earthquake: effects of weirs, sediment supply and sediment mining"
May 2023: A science talk from Amy East (USGS) on Fluvial response to a major lava-dam collapse: the Rio Coca disaster, Ecuador.
April 2023: Science talks from Corina Cerovski-Darriau (USGS/USAID) on Unexpected post-fire soil response in Northern California and Clarke Knight (USGS)on Historical role of fire in the Klamath Mountains, California.
March 2023: Science talks from Jason Stoker (USGS) and Chelsea Scott (Arizona State University)
on Accessing 3D Elevation Program Data: Did you know? and Lidar topographic differencing applied to Indiana
February 2023: The geomorphology of wetlands in drylands: whither science and management in an Anthropocene?
A science talk from Stephen Tooth (Aberystwyth University)
November 2022: The geomorphic context of litter in urban streams
A science talk from Anne Jefferson (Kent State University)
October 2022: Lobate soil patterns on Earth and Mars: Finding the Secret Recipe
A science talk from Rachel Glade (University of Rochester)
September 2022: From Grains to Landscapes: Reconstructing Martian Environments at Multiple Scales
A science talk from Frances Rivera-Hernandez (Georgia Tech)
June 2022: The highs and lows of urban streamflow change
A science talk from Kristina Hopkins (USGS)
May 2022: Incorporating watershed storage, hydrologic connectivity, and the natural flow regime into water resource management
A science talk from Nathan Jones (University of Alabama)
April 2022: An exploration of the bio-geological linkages that enable or limit reef-island resiliency to climate change.
A science talk from Haunani Kane (Arizona State University)
February 2022: Islands in the rain: Isolating the influence of rainfall on erosion on volcanic ocean islands
A science talk from Kim Huppert (GFZ Potsdam)
January 2022: Rocks in the river: creating terraces and gorges with sediment
A science talk from Sarah Schanz (Colorado College)
November 2021: Landscapes on the fringe: From volcanoes to rocky coasts
A science talk from Kristin Sweeney (University of Portland)
September 2021:
A science talk from Robert Mahon (University of New Orleans)
August 2021: The Martian Chronicles: There will come a Gale
A science talk from Marisa Palucis (Dartmouth College)
June 2021
A panel discussion on opportunities outside academia with panelists Kealie Pretzlav (Balance Hydrologics), Laura Zinke (Nature Reviews Earth & Environment), Robert Emberson(NASA Landslides Team), Shawn Chartrand(Simon Fraser University).
May 2021
Special Townhall on Surface process applications of environmental seismology and distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) with panelists Ge Jin (Colorado School of Mines), Michaela Wenner (ETH Zürich), Marine Denolle (University of Washington), and Eileen Martin (Virginia Tech). Moderated by Danica Roth (Colorado School of Mines) and Claire Masteller (Washington University in St Louis).
April 2021
A panel discussion on building a supportive research community with panel members Julia Cisneros & Jorge San Juan Blanco (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Geo-Hydro Discussion Group), Katherine (Katy) Barnhart (Landlab / Journal of Open Source Software (JOSS) / USGS), Rachel Maxwell (UCSC GEODES)
Read the related blog post How we successfully created a supportive graduate research community across multiple university entities by Julia Cisneros and Jorge San Juan
March 2021: Icy Landscapes Heating Up
A science talk from Irina Overeem (University of Colorado Boulder)
February 2021
A panel discussion on science communication with Becca Dzombak (GSA's Science Communication Fellow and University of Michigan), Amy East (Editor-in-chief, JGR Earth Surface and USGS), Katherine Kornei (Science Journalist), Charlie Shobe (Geobites Editor and West Virginia University)
January 2021: Throwing rocks down hills: wildfire, surface roughness and steepland sediment transport
A science talk from Danica Roth (Colorado School of Mines)
November 2020: Demographics of Dam Removals
A science talk from Josh Galster (Montclair State University)
October 2020: The intersection of geomorphology and environmental justice
A Q&A panel discussion featuring José Constantine (Williams College), Rebecca Lave (Indiana University-Bloomington), and Sacoby Wilson (University of Maryland).
(note: We plan to post a list of compiled resources related to environmental justice the week of October 19)
September 2020: Complex system response to external forcing in bedrock river networks
A science talk from Helen Beeson (ETH Zürich)
September 2020 (Special Virtual Townhall): A Community Discussion of Typical Wildfire Effects on Earth Surface Processes, Featuring panelists: Stephanie Kampf (Colorado State University), Luke McGuire (University of Arizona), Jennifer Pierce (Boise State University), Gary Sheridan (University of Melbourne), and moderated by Francis Rengers (USGS)
August 2020: Productive work habits (summary of the discussion coming soon!)
A discussion of best practices for balancing academic productivity and mental health with panelists Jean Braun (GFZ-Potsdam), Anjali Fernandes (Denison), Doug Jerolmack (Penn), and Frances Rivera-Hernandez (Dartmouth/Georgia Tech).
July 2020: Sea level, sediment, and soil chemical weathering: Transient behavior at source and sink
A science talk from Ken Ferrier (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
June 2020: Navigating Postdocs (click here for a summary of the discussion)
A discussion on best practices for applying to and getting the most out of postdocs, featuring panelists Corina Cerovski-Darriau (USGS), Noah Finnegan (UC Santa Cruz), Raleigh Martin (American Geosciences Institute), and Duna Roda-Boluda (GFZ-Potsdam)
The AGU Hydrology Section Study Subcommittee has an excellent series of applying for academic jobs.
GSA also has a webinar series on Career Development.