Francis J. Magilligan
Professor
Appointments
The Frank J. Reagan '09 Chair of Policy Studies, Emeritus
Professor of Geography, Emeritus
Adjunct Professor of Earth Sciences, Emeritus
Area of Expertise
Flood Hydrology,
Fluvial Processes and Environments,
Riparian and Watershed Science,
Human Impacts on Watersheds,
Soil Erosion, Sedimentation, and Sediment Mobility,
River Restoration,
Watershed Resilience
Biography
My teaching and research interests focus primarily on fluvial geomorphology and surface water hydrology. In particular, my research addresses stream channel and watershed response to environmental change – whether the change is generated by natural (e.g. climate change) or anthropogenic (e.g. agriculture, grazing, or logging) causes. For example, I have worked on the geomorphic impacts of catastrophic floods in the Upper Mississippi River as well as glacial outburst floods in Iceland. At a more local level, I have been analyzing the geomorphic impacts of Hurricane Irene that ravaged eastern Vermont in late summer 2011. Currently, I am focusing on the links between channel processes and riparian ecology, especially the role of flow regulation by dams on aquatic and floodplain ecology. This work was recently highlighted in a National Science Foundation online newsletter and PBS (see below video). Besides this ongoing research focus on dams, I am also interested in the biophysical impacts of dam removal in conjunction with the social, political, and environmental dimensions that orbit around the decision to remove a dam. I recently received a Guggenheim Award to further document and situate the science and politics related to river restoration writ large across the US.
Education
B.A. Boston University
M.S. University of Wisconsin
Ph.D. University of Wisconsin
Taught Courses
Publications
Dethier, E.N., Fields, J.F., Renshaw, C.E., and Magilligan, F.J., 2025, Persistent hillslope erosion delays fluvial recovery from catastrophic flooding, Geological Society America Bulletin, https://doi.org/10.1130/B36139.1
Malakoff, E., Renshaw, C.E., and Magilligan, F.J., 2025, Gradients in stream power influence log jam locations, Geomorphology, doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2025.109962
Rossi, R., Renshaw, C.E., Magilligan, F.J., Fields, J.F., and Nislow, K.N., 2025, Impacts of channel reach morphology and seasonal flow history on the movement of coarse grains, Journal of Geophysical Research – Earth Surface, doi:10.1029/2024JF008045.
Erikson, C.M., Renshaw, C.E. and Magilligan, F.J., 2025. Finer grained sediment pulses decrease variability in entrainment thresholds of bed material. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 50(11), p.e70149, doi.org/10.1002/esp.70149.
Erikson, C.M., Renshaw, C.E., Dethier, E.N., and Magilligan, F.J., 2025, Watershed scale runoff efficiency response to climate variability, Hydrologic Processes, doi:10.1002/hyp.70086
Fields, J.F., Renshaw, C.E., Dethier, E.N., and Magilligan, F.J., 2025, The longer arc of channel recovery post-dam removal, Geomorphology, doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2024.109442.
Richardson, O.H., Renshaw, C.E., and Magilligan, F.J., 2024, Spatial variation of changes in extreme discharge seasonality across the northeastern United States, Hydrologic Processes, doi.org/10.1002/hyp.15317.
Dethier, E.N., Silman, M., Leiva, J.D., Alqahtani, S., Fernandez, L.E., Pauca, P., Çamalan, S., Tomhave, P., Magilligan, F.J., Renshaw, C.E., Lutz, D.A., 2023, A global rise in alluvial mining increases sediment load in tropical rivers, Nature, Aug 24;620(7975):787-93.
Dethier, E.N., Renshaw, C.E., and Magilligan, F.J., 2022, Rapid changes to global river suspended sediment flux by humans, Science, 376 (6600),doi: 10.1126/science.abn7980
Sneddon, C.S., Magilligan, F.J., and Fox, C., 2022, River restoration and the contradictions of state power, Annals American Association of Geographers. doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2021.1913089
Roberts, M., Renshaw, C.E., and Magilligan, F.J., 2020, Field measurement of the probability of coarse-grained sediment entrainment in natural rivers, Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, doi:10.1061/(ASCE)HY.1943-7900.0001694
Dethier, E.N., Renshaw, C.E., Magilligan, F.J., 2020. Toward improved accuracy of remote sensing approaches for quantifying suspended sediment: Implications for suspended‐sediment monitoring. Journal of Geophysical Research – Earth Surface. 125. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JF005033
Renshaw, C.E., Magilligan, F.J., Doyle, H., Dethier, E., and Kantack, K., 2019, Rapid response of New England rivers to shifting boundary conditions: processes, timeframes, and pathways to post-flood channel equilibrium, Geology, doi:10.1130/G46702.1
Wohl E., Brierley, G., Cadol, T., Coulthard, T., Covino, T., Fryirs, K., Grant, G., Hilton, T., Lane, Magilligan, F., Meitzen, K., Passalacqua, P., Pöppl, R., Rathburn, S., Sklar, L., 2018, Connectivity as an emergent property of geomorphic systems, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, doi.org/10.1002/esp.4434.
Sneddon, C.S, Magilligan, F.J., and Fox, C.A., 2017, Science of the dammed: Expertise and knowledge claims in contested dam removals, Water Alternatives, 10(3): 677-696.
Foley, M.M., J.R. Bellmore, J.E. O'Connor, J.J. Duda, A.E. East, G.E. Grant, C.W. Anderson, J.A. Bountry, M.J. Collins, P.J. Connolly, L.S. Craig, J.E. Evans, S.L. Greene, F.J. Magilligan, C.S. Magirl, J.J. Major, G.R. Pess, T.J. Randle, P.B. Shafroth, C.E. Torgersen, D. Tullos, A.C. Wilcox, 2017, Dam removal—listening in, Water Resources Research, doi:10.1002/2017WR020457
Magilligan, F.J., Sneddon, C., Fox, C.A. 2017, The social, historical, and institutional contingencies of dam removal, Environmental Management, 59(6), 982-994.
Foley, M.M., Magilligan, F.J., Torgersen, C.E., Major, J.J., Anderson, C.W., Connolly P.J., Wieferich, D., Shafroth, P.B., Evans J.E., Infante, D., 2017, Landscape context and the biophysical response of rivers to dam removal in the United States, PLoS ONE, doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0180107
Naylor, L.A., Spencer, T., Lane, S.N., Darby, S.E., Magilligan, F.J., Macklin, M.G., and Möller, I., 2017, Stormy Geomorphology: geomorphic contributions in an age of climate extremes, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 42: 166–190
Magilligan, F.J., Nislow, K.H. Kynard, B.E., Hackman, A.M., 2016, Immediate changes in stream channel geomorphology, aquatic habitat, and fish assemblages following dam removal in a headwater catchment, Geomorphology, 252:158-170
Fox, C., Magilligan, F.J., and Sneddon, C.S., 2016, "You kill the dam, you are killing a part of me": Dam removal and the environmental politics of river restoration", Geoforum, 70: 93–104.
Magilligan, F.J., Graber, B., Nislow, K.H., Chipman, J, Sneddon, C.S., and Fox, C. 2016, River restoration by dam removal: assessing riverine re-connectivity and watershed resilience at a regional scale, Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene. doi: 10.12952/journal.elementa.000108
Magilligan, F.J., Sneddon, C.S. and Fox, C., 2016, The era of big dam building: it ain't over till it's over, In (eds.): C. Ashcraft and T. Mayer, The Politics of Fresh Water: Access, Conflict and Identity, Routledge Press, pp. 78-97.
Dethier, E., Magilligan, F.J., Renshaw, C.R., and Nislow, K.H., 2016, Chronic and episodic disturbances: the persistence and legacy of extreme floods, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 41:1437–1447.
Gartner, J.D., Magilligan, F.J., and Renshaw, C.E., 2015, Predicting the type, location and magnitude of geomorphic responses to dam removal: role of hydrologic and geomorphic constraints, Geomorphology, 251: 20-30.
Magilligan, F.J., Buraas, E.M., and Renshsaw, C.E., 2015, The efficacy of stream power and flow duration on geomorphic responses to catastrophic flooding, Geomorphology, 228: 175-188.
Underwood, J.W., Renshaw, C.E., Magilligan, F.J., Dade, W.B., and Landis, J.D., 2015, Joint isotopic mass balance: A novel approach to quantifying channel bed to channel margins sediment transfer during storm events, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 40: 1563–1573.
Gartner, J., Dade, W.B., Renshaw, C.E., Magilligan, F.J., 2015, Gradients in stream power influence lateral and downstream sediment flux in floods, Geology, 43: 983-986
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