Research Bio
Dr. Larsen’s work focuses primarily on how flowing water structures the form and function of landscapes, with emphases on the Florida Everglades, wet meadows across the US, and intermittent streams in coastal California. Larsen’s Environmental Systems Dynamics Laboratory takes a complex-systems approach to environmental problems, seeking to understand the set of interactions and feedbacks that produce emergent phenomena. The lab’s approach to problems integrates field work and numerical modeling to identify the most critical drivers of landscape-scale change and generate predictions about how landscapes will respond to climate change or changes in management.
Research Expertise and Interest
hydroecology, geomorphology, complex systems, restoration ecology, environmental modeling, wetlands, sediment transport, environmental fluid mechanics
In the News
Funding for big-data projects in ecology, astronomy & microscopy
Three professors at UC Berkeley will receive $1.5 million over the next five years from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation as part of the foundation’s Data-Driven Discovery Initiative. The initiative, one of the largest privately funded data scientist programs of its kind, is committed to enabling new types of scientific breakthroughs by supporting interdisciplinary, data-driven researchers.
Teaching
Individual Research [CIVENG 299]
Supervised Independent Study [GEOG 199]
Directed Dissertation Research [GEOG 296]
Individual Research [GEOG 299]
Honors Course [GEOG H195B]
Supervised Research: Physical Sciences [UGIS 192D]
Field Studies in Civil and Environmental Engineering [CIVENG 297]
Individual Research [CIVENG 299]
Supervised Independent Study [GEOG 199]
Directed Dissertation Research [GEOG 296]
Individual Research [GEOG 299]
Individual Study for Master's Students [GEOG 601]
Individual Study for Doctoral Students [GEOG 602]
Honors Course [GEOG H195A]
Supervised Research: Physical Sciences [UGIS 192D]
Field Studies in Civil and Environmental Engineering [CIVENG 297]
Honors Course [GEOG H195A]
Individual Research [CIVENG 299]
Honors Undergraduate Research [CIVENG H194]
Supervised Independent Study [GEOG 199]
Topics in Social Geography [GEOG 259]
Directed Dissertation Research [GEOG 296]
Individual Research [GEOG 299]
Honors Course [GEOG H195A]
Honors Course [GEOG H195B]
Supervised Research: Physical Sciences [UGIS 192D]